Most Desirable Technologies When Eating Out

• 71% of Brits wish to order food at their table – this is the most desirable restaurant technology.
• New restaurant features attract more custom, as 61% claim they would be more compelled to visit.
• Over half (57%) believe new tech is an effective way to tempt customers.
• Almost three quarters (71%) expect restaurants to be utilising new technologies.

We’re all partial to exciting new technologies. Whether it’s the newest mobile phone or smart speaker, we all yearn to get our hands on it. Technology encompasses us, but not only in the obvious way of personal gadgets. We can often overlook how it enriches many aspects of our lives. In particular, when we go out to eat. To rejig our memories, OnBuy.com surveyed 1,562 Brits on their attitudes towards restaurant technologies. Here’s what they thought.

Future desirable tech. Source: Onebuy

It’s no surprise that self-order kiosks are the most familiar tech to Brits at 82% – most McDonalds and service stations now feature these. This is followed by:

• Ordering food via a mobile app (75%)
• At-table food ordering (68%)
• Digital-electronic bill payments (39%)
• Immersive dining experiences (33%). These can incorporate, but not limited to, the following: digitally enhanced walls and decoration, immersive and surround-sound music, digitally enhanced dining tables.

A clear priority emerges with the type of tech we want to see. British people desire the ease of everything in one place - hence the most desirable tech is at-table food ordering (71%), followed by at-table food tracking (64%) and interactive menu experiences (62%). This last one is specially interesting, as it can involve AR assisted menus that create pop-up menu items, displaying a projection mapping of ingredients within the dish, the cooking method and journey of the dish, nutritional information and allergens, and more.

Closely following are:
 

• Micro call buttons (59%)
• Immersive dining (57%)
• Wait list management software (51%), a type of computer software that enhances and fine-tunes a problem of busy restaurants – that is, a waiting list. Software could create any of the following: pre-orders for food and drinks to be ready on sit-down, text alerts for when a table is ready, a virtual waiting list, and more.
• Electronic bill payments (47%)

On the other side of the spectrum, the least favoured restaurant technologies are: at-table digital feedback services (33%), built-in games while you wait (29%), and facial/fingerprint recognition payments (10%).

How likely are you to eat at a restaurant featuring innovative technologies? Source. Onebuy

A resounding number of respondents expect restauranteurs to implement new technologies – 71% expect it, 27% don’t, and 2% don’t mind. Not only this, but new tech will evidently attract more custom. 61% of Brits are more intrigued by a restaurant utilising innovative tech. This is compared to 27% who aren’t, and 12% who say they’re not sure. Overall, Brits are in favour of new restaurant tech. 57% believe tech will successfully entice customers into visiting. 17% don’t, while 26% are sceptical, explaining it depends on the tech.

Finally, when asked how likely they are to eat at a restaurant featuring these technologies, most believe they will. 33% answered very likely, followed by likely (20%), somewhat likely (13%), neither likely nor unlikely (16%), somewhat unlikely (5%), unlikely (9%) and very unlikely (4%).