Cutting down the Queue. iPad use in Coffee and Snack Bars
iPads are the latest technology to be used in coffee shops and quick food outlets. We've seen it hit restaurants and hotels but is there an iPad / iPhone App for ordering and paying for your meal at your favourite coffee shop or fast food outlet? Well we've scoured the Internet to find some success stories and some companies servicing this market for Coffee shop Apps.
Aptito (http://aptito.com/blog/2011/07/13/technology-prediction-order-food-ipad-%E2%80%93-the-next-big-trend-for-coffee-shops-cafes/) is a menu technology company in the United States whose App for the iPad has worked wonders for some coffee shop / sandwich outlets. Coffee shop proprietors say that it cuts queues and enables the customer to comment on their coffee shop experience for each menu item and their visit in general. See the following video testimonies:
And:
Let us know what you think of this as a time saving device. Would it work in your coffee shop? See also the article on Technology trends in Hotels.
I own a small coffee shop here in Dublin but I think that although enabling my customers to pre-order with their iPhone, iPad or other Smartphone might increase our business, I don't think it would cut down on our queues. However if we had a larger business I think it would be worth doing a pilot study to see what the benefits and downside would be for our business. Find a small cafe in Ireland that uses this kind of technology successfully and we might take another look at it. Nice Blog though, keep up the good work.
When I first read this, I thought it was all about letting customers place orders on their own iphones or ipads. But the two video clips just show waiters using the snack bar's own ipads to communicate orders to the kitchen staff. Surely this is just the same as ordering food in a pub where the order is selected on a touch-screen till, and gets automatically sent to the kitchen staff. It would only reduce queues if there are more staff taking orders, and more tills or ipads. But let people use their own mobile devices, that would probably cut waiting times. As long as it doesn't get out of hand by allowing customers to check the progress of their orders ("butter being spread on bread" .... "lettuce and tomato being added" .... "bread being sliced") :)
I own a small coffee shop here in Dublin but I think that although enabling my customers to pre-order with their iPhone, iPad or other Smartphone might increase our business, I don't think it would cut down on our queues. However if we had a larger business I think it would be worth doing a pilot study to see what the benefits and downside would be for our business. Find a small cafe in Ireland that uses this kind of technology successfully and we might take another look at it. Nice Blog though, keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteJason Lee
When I first read this, I thought it was all about letting customers place orders on their own iphones or ipads. But the two video clips just show waiters using the snack bar's own ipads to communicate orders to the kitchen staff. Surely this is just the same as ordering food in a pub where the order is selected on a touch-screen till, and gets automatically sent to the kitchen staff. It would only reduce queues if there are more staff taking orders, and more tills or ipads. But let people use their own mobile devices, that would probably cut waiting times. As long as it doesn't get out of hand by allowing customers to check the progress of their orders ("butter being spread on bread" .... "lettuce and tomato being added" .... "bread being sliced") :)
ReplyDelete