November 2013

Case Study: Panera Debuts Tablet Ordering

Ordering via tablets is making its way into restaurants and the quick serve industry, and it has proven successful. Panera is one that a tablet was recently spotted – after watching customers, it seemed that customers were receptive to the concept and turned to the tablet to place orders versus waiting in line.

The system allows customers to place their order without waiting in line. After their meal, the receipt is sent to the customer via email, and a quick feedback survey consisting of three questions is included. This is a great example of how Panera is making the most of the tablet technology.

In sit down restaurants, the increased sales and tips are being realized. According to a recent study, the use of tablet ordering cuts the meal time by seven minutes – not only is this more efficient for guests, but it also allows for tables to be turned over more quickly. For servers, that is good news: more tables can result in higher tips.

To add to the increased efficiency and resulting guest satisfaction, tablet based ordering can take things to the next level with restaurant guests, if tablet based consoles are used to their maximum potential.

For example, the Customer Engagement Console allows for a robust program that can incorporate customer feedback, encouragement to sign up for loyalty programs, and a gateway for guests to join the restaurant on social media while they’re still at their table. Throw in a feedback survey and restaurants have a quick, efficient way to truly engage with the customer on various levels while ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Technology is making improvements for the restaurant industry. While retailers may be a bit slower to adapt to the tablets in their locations, I anticipate that this will increase significantly in 2014.

Upselling and Loyalty Card Suggestion Uncovered in Mystery Shopping

Most, if not all, companies who utilize mystery shopping incorporate upselling, cross selling, and mention of loyalty cards into their program. These are all important aspects of the sales process. It is also one that can be uncomfortable for employees to do on a consistent basis.

A recent study showed that, during an evaluation of coffee retailers, more than half of the employees failed to attempt to upsell or cross sell. Even more shocking was the fact that 97% of the time, the loyalty card program was not mentioned.

In our experience, mystery shopping programs can uncover gaps in these processes. Take, for example, a retailer who begins a program, only to learn that the loyalty card they offer is only mentioned 10% of the time at the register. Further, during times when it is mentioned and the customer indicates they do not have a card, nothing is said about the loyalty program.

In this instance, the company’s loyalty card program was fairly new and employees were still adjusting to the process of asking for it. After reviewing the initial results, the company talked with register staff to learn more. They found that many stated they were not as familiar with the program as the could be, and felt hesitant to ask about it in fear that the customer did not have a card and they would have to talk about the program. They did not feel they could do an adequate job.

In a second example, a quick serve restaurant measured attempts to upsell and cross sell, only to find that their attempts across all locations was lower than they would like to see. It was uncovered that employees were thinking they were upselling by asking, “Would you like that in a small, medium or large?” as opposed to a more appropriate, “Will that be a medium or large?” as dictated by the company as being an appropriate upsell. This resulted in the identification for additional training and continued monitoring of this employee process.

Upselling and cross selling, as well as loyalty card mentions are an important part of customer service and sales. Ensuring that your employees are performing to company standards is vital, and mystery shopping can measure and monitor these aspects to ensure they are consistent met.

The #1 Time Waster At Work

Bet you’re thinking it’s social media and/or internet surfing, right?

According to a recent study, not so much.

The biggest time waster, as deemed so by respondents of a recent survey, indicated that chatting with coworkers took up their time, followed by computer issues and meetings, and lastly by internet surfing.

The infographic below looks at what waste employee’s time. It’s interesting to note the statistics on meetings – 37% believe that half of their time is wasted in meetings. This is further perpetuated by the statistics on how people spend their time in meetings, with significant percentages reporting that they are daydreaming, doing other work, or skipping the meetings all together.

Social media can’t take the blame according to this study. It appears that employees are less involved in online activities than we are led to believe during work hours. Take a look at the infographic to see where your thoughts fall into line with the study before the new work week starts.

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