Payment Processing
The Future is Contactless — Scan-and-Go Tech Goes Mainstream
Perhaps you remember the first time you used a self-checkout lane at the supermarket, sometime during the early 2000s. It likely felt foreign, and maybe even somehow wrong? And yet, in 2021, nearly 60% of American consumers said they’d head to a self-checkout lane instead of a cashier when given the choice.
Many of today’s customers have never known a world that doesn’t at least offer a self-serve option. The restaurant industry had been slower to adopt contactless (or scan-and-go) technology, until a global pandemic driven by close human contact forced its hand. Now, scan-and-go tech is commonplace across the country and around the world, with numerous applications for both dine-in and to-go guests.
Often using simple QR code technology, scan-and-go technology delivers a safe and cost-effective way for customers to order and pay directly at the table or elsewhere within your business. Customers scan a QR code at their table, which pulls up a digital menu they can use to place an order directly from their smartphone or allows them to close their tab as soon as they’re ready — no more waiting for the server to check in!
Embracing QR code technology for contactless ordering and contactless payments has helped many restaurants stay open while promoting health and safety for everyone who walks through their doors. Scan-and-go technology has since shown that it can encourage bigger tips and check averages while also helping your restaurant decrease its labor needs. A few other highlights of this revenue-boosting restaurant technology include:
- No room for human error during the ordering process, meaning fewer mistakes, less food waste and more happy customers!
- Reduced downtime of waiting for server to take orders or process payment, resulting in faster table turns.
- Bigger tips thanks to built-in gratuity prompts during contactless payment process.
- Greater opportunities for upselling or suggestive selling via recommended add-ons through your digital menu.
- Access to valuable guest information with every transaction.
Still not convinced? Leaning into contactless ordering and contactless payments could also help you solve any lingering restaurant staffing issues following the Great Resignation.
With benefits for both guests and restaurants, completely contactless dining experiences are the way of the future. Even as more and more people resume normal activities, many guests are eager to continue using contactless options in the future. A thoughtful digital dining experience puts the customer journey in the customer’s hands for an improved customer experience featuring faster, more convenient transactions. Meanwhile, you’ll enjoy greater profits and productivity, all while enhancing guest satisfaction and creating customer loyalty.