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Too much tech? Untangling digital inconsistency at your QSR

It's undeniable that technology has the capability to transform the fortunes of your brand. But can too much tech be a bad thing? Of course it can, but this article tells brand leaders how to get the best of all worlds.

November 5, 2018 by Sif Rai — CMO, QikServe

For QSR brands, technology is now present at every step of the business process, from online ordering and in-restaurant tech to a range of delivery innovations. We've seen developments using Amazon Echo and chat-bots, robots and even autonomous vehicles.

While some of this headline-grabbing tech might not be here to stay, it's undeniable that technology has the capability to transform the fortunes of your brand. Just ask Domino's. The brand has reported that more than 60 percent of its order now come from digital channels, making it clear that technology can have very positive business impacts. 

"Today's consumers expect to have the same experience across all of a brand's channels and should not be left scratching their heads as they wonder how to customize an order when using a kiosk instead of the familiar website system." 

But can too much tech be a bad thing? And, with all the choices available, how do operators decide what's right for their businesses? 

Without a clear strategy in place, operators can become embroiled in a complicated and time-consuming nightmare as they try to implement a digital customer experience that is consistent across all channels. Choosing a technology is one thing, but discerning which provider best fits the brand can prompt a landslide of questions around company credentials, integrations, pricing and other concerns. 

The impact of getting things wrong in this key selection goes beyond the obvious financial hit and often extends into brand-damaging reputational repercussions. 

Topping customer expectations

Today's consumers expect to have the same experience across all of a brand's channels and should not be left scratching their heads as they wonder how to customize an order when using a kiosk instead of the familiar website system. Customers don't see a brand's kiosk interface as being any different from its website or mobile app. In your diners' eyes it's all one brand, so consistency here is the key.

But achieving this isn't easy. In addition to integrating with POS and other back-end systems, creating a consistent guest experience involves thinking about how customers' journeys are handled across multiple channels. A customer's experience on one channel should not feel different and unconnected from their path via another channel. Moving from one channel to another should be intuitive and everything from menus to buttons and other interfaces should be structured in the same manner.

By not thinking strategically about technology, operators leave themselves open to a fragmented, inefficient operational nightmare, while also potentially exposing customers to a disjointed, confusing guest experience. In the rush to implement the latest technologies, brands may end up with an array of different solutions that each bring with differentiated customer experiences into the mix. There is a clear need for a better, smarter way of rolling out and managing digital channels.

Slicing through complexity

Cue the move toward a single technology platform that brings together data from all channels to provide a single source of information for all guest-facing services. This helps avoid the Frankenstein-inspired situation that happens when operators have to stitch several different technologies together. 

In addition to presenting a consistent customer experience across channels, operators can use a platform to access detailed customer data from across their digital environment. The result is brands gain a better understanding of their customers and ways to implement advanced capabilities to reach them, like intuitive upselling.

"By not thinking strategically about technology, operators leave themselves open to a fragmented, inefficient operational nightmare, while also potentially exposing customers to a disjointed, confusing guest experience."

Through this approach, it is now no longer all about the technology channel. Whether it's mobile, kiosk, web or tablet ordering, all can be turned on and off as needed. A platform approach is about being able to harness the power of POS, CRM systems and databases, payment solutions, marketing and loyalty platforms and more, to ensure a consistent customer experience on any channel. This kind of seamless, intuitive omnichannel experience is still only a dream for most operators, but QSR leaders who want to achieve it tomorrow must start thinking about their brand's digital strategy today. 

So, when your brand is choosing a company to work with on digital technology, remember that a spirit of partnership is key. Like any relationship, it's important to understand how well a potential partner's capabilities match your long-term strategy. So, ask:

• Is this technology provider integrated with other systems used across your business? 
• Does this provider support your future transition into new channels including mobile applications, kiosk solutions and web services, for example? 

Don't suffer the headache of trying to unify the customer experience across multiple different technologies in the future. Be strategic and find a platform that can do it all.