Digital ordering opens new doors for franchises

Whether you consider yourself quick-service or fast-casual, speed is of the essence in the food franchising game. This is just one reason why drive-thrus are such a hit with Americans – they represent the simplest way to order, pay for and pick up food quickly. Or, at least they used to, according to a recent article from QSR.

With digital ordering, fast-casual food purveyors are making drive-thrus look prehistoric, founder and CEO of Olo Noah Glass wrote for QSR. Instead of driving to a location, ordering, paying and waiting for food to be prepared, today’s consumers can order ahead online, have their food prepared while they’re en route, pick it up, pay and call it a day.

This explains why nearly 50 percent of fast-casual operators are making use of digital ordering. Glass said an embrace of this technology has provided fast-casual restaurants with numerous benefits, including larger average order sizes, higher visit frequencies, reduced food waste and improved order accuracy.

Digital ordering also opens up the door to greater guest engagement.

“Beyond increased throughput, the shift from analog ordering to digital ordering will lead to vast new opportunities for quick-service restaurants to better know their guests,” Glass said. “Instead of viewing each transaction as a one-off encounter, digital ordering enables restaurants to personalize the guest experience based on past order history and make recommendations of what other guests with similar tastes have enjoyed through targeted suggestive selling.”

Read the full story here.