Dine-in Glossary for Wait times

Imagine you are in 18th century France and someone has opened a shop to sell a bowl of soup. The idea was considered weird back then, but that is exactly how the business of dine-in restaurants started. A guy named A. Boulanger opened a shop in 1765.

The idea was simple, any diner can order a meal from a menu, offering a choice of dishes. The core principle of dining has not changed much, but customer needs definitely have. A restaurant is no longer seen as just a legacy business.

The entire industry has seen major technological advancements, but the rate of change is still slow as compared to other industries. In fact, in recent a survey conducted by National Restaurant Association, almost 40% of the respondents said that restaurants should use more tech-enabled solutions to improve the overall customer experience.

Let’s look at some of the inefficiencies that can be mitigated with deep-tech solutions.

A staggering 86% of the people feel irritated after waiting for more than 10 minutes in a queue. So, minimizing customer wait time is key to ensuring a good customer experience. Security cameras installed in restaurants can help in determining the wait time for each customer. It can also help unlock insights like which orders take longer to process, the bottlenecks, etc. The entire process can be streamlined once you identify the ideal wait time. You can incentivize the waiters to fulfill the order on or before time and you can also delight the customer by giving a free snack if you exceed the time limit.

One thing that can irks people for sure is not being attended when you go to the counter to place an order. This is something that can be and should be avoided at all cost. It can negatively affect the customer and can hamper the image of the restaurant as well. This problem can be solved simply by sending real-time alerts to the host. It will ensure that customers are attended as soon as they reach the counter, avoiding any kind of delay.

If you look around your restaurant, you will always find someone awkwardly looking at a distance, well, they are mostly likely looking for a waiter. Although this does not sound like a major issue, it can definitely impact the customer experience. Every customer wants the waiter to be instantly available, but that rarely happens. So, you can fix that with AI, by sending real-time alerts to waiters. Cameras can detect the posture of a person who is looking to order something and can send a real-time alert to the waiter. This will streamline the process of ordering and will improve customer experience.

Technology is no longer seen as an add-on rather it has become a necessity. People prefer tech-enabled restaurants as they provide better customer experience. AI-powered solutions can transform your restaurant. It can improve the overall customer experience and eliminate inefficiencies. So, head over to Wobot.ai to book a demo or try out our use cases with a free trial.