Technology
QSRs' techy future: It's all about ASMAC
Do you know what ASMAC means to your QSR?
September 4, 2020 by Amit Jain — Lead - PR & Communications, Manthan
There's a tech term — ASMAC — that QSR operators might want to become familiar with. It's an acronym for AI, Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud. In essence, it wraps up in one term the tech reality for QSRs today.
What follows is a look at how these technological solutions are accelerating the transformation of the QSR and helping brands in this sector, with the fastest delivery speeds in the restaurant industry, to achieve the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit.
Artificial Intelligence
AI is reshaping the QSR industry in more interesting ways than one could possibly keep up with, ultimately offering customers tech-enabled experiences that can help them save valuable time. Voice-enabled assistants, like Amazon Echo (Alexa) and Google Home are powering-up ordering from home.
But the challenge for restaurants is to incorporate voice-enabled services into their POS systems, too. Major QSR chains, like Domino's, KFC and Pizza Hut, have already acknowledged the need and incorporated voice-enabled ordering.
In addition, intelligent digital assistants can provide a helping hand with digital menus, since these listings of restaurant offerings can overwhelm some customers with choices. Automated voice assistants, however, can expedite the drive-thru process and the time it takes customers to navigate these menus and the drive-thru process in general.
Likewise, AI not only personalizes the restaurant experience, but can enhance overall customer experience by capturing real-time intelligence across online and off-line touch points, making hyper-personalization a reality. Segment-of-One then is a true-to-life thing since personalized menus on apps are possible for every customer, as well as location-based mobile-phone offer-targeting, and product and combo recommendations suited to specific palates.
Social media
Social media is increasingly all-seeing and all-knowing. With more than 60% of the world online and more than 3.8 billion people using social media, it would be a huge missed opportunity for any QSR that failed to make its digital presence known.
And though social media can be a platform for unhappy customers to voice their concerns, the positives of these channels far outweigh the negatives. Twitter, Facebook, Intagram and other social media platforms are great venues for driving the personalized customer experience in real-time through things like push promotions, offers, LTOs and community-building among other perks.
The scale of influence is mind-blowing. In fact, these platforms offer a wealth of insight into on customers' personalities, tastes and lifestyles. But, the real value remains in the ways savvy QSR marketers use this wealth of data.
Mobile, e-commerce apps
Smartphones are attention-hoarders in the hands of the average user, who spends more than three hours daily on their device. QSRs must use mobile applications to find, personalize and provide relevant information for customers.
Brands like McDonald's and Pizza Hut are well ahead of the pack when it comes to mobile app development, while Dunkin' has gone a step further by including mobile order express lanes for near-instant order retrieval, capitalizing on the trend toward more mobile ordering and payment.
For the marketing team, it's a great way to drive more intimate engagement with customers. Whether it's sending SMS to drive app installations or push notifications on loyalty offers, mobile apps take brands closer to customers. AI-based marketing orchestration tools make real-time activation easy, though most QSRs are still challenged to attract customers to brand apps from their use of third-party aggregators.
Analytics
With algorithms ruling the world, data and analytics are fast-becoming some of QSR brands' most valuable assets. In fact, adaptation of data-driven, fact-based decision-making is key to business growth in the QSR sector.
From mobile applications to social media, POS software and more, digital touch points generate valuable data. Using advanced algorithms, data can be converted into valuable insight for leadership decision-making.
Through wise use of analytics, planning teams find the best menu mixes, kitchen and delivery times are streamlines, labor productivity is charted and sales can be forecast based on external factors. Marketers drive relevant messages using algorithms that help in analyzing and segmenting customer data to predicting the next best action.
Cloud computing
The cloud provides an enormous space to accumulate, analyze and use data to inform strategy. Cloud software can then provide solutions that help QSRs cut costs, streamline operations and boost overall business flexibility and functionality.
The global QSR and fast food market was valued at USD 257.19 billion in 2019 with a compound annual growth rate of 5.1% from 2020 to 2027. However, these figures have already seen a steep downward trend due to the pandemic.
Nevertheless, technologies are expected to help the industry reinvent itself and get back to business. ASMAC has enormous potential to aid the QSR sector to not only get the big picture of the sector at large, but also help daily operations. A digital roadmap for every QSR is the not-so-secret sauce to future-proofing any given brand.
About Amit Jain
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