Cashing-in on Digital Door Opportunities

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Today’s world is becoming increasingly reliant on technology — the way we shop, communicate, manage relationships and spend our leisure time. We are in the midst of a technological revolution. Increasingly, digitization is tied to smartphone use. In fact, in Canada, more than 50 per cent of the population uses a smartphone. Smartphone ownership has increased to 57 per cent in Canada, well above the global average of 42 per cent, and in 2015, six in 10 Canadians accessed the Internet via a mobile device.

This shift in behaviour is slowly beginning to find its way into the foodservice landscape. The “digital door” is a term used to describe any customer who accesses a restaurant through the Internet or mobile device. Currently, the digital door accounts for a mere two per cent of restaurant traffic — however, it’s growing at more than 20 per cent annually. In fact, digital-door traffic has tripled over the last four years and is estimated to represent a $1.2-billion opportunity annually for the foodservice industry.

So why is a digital-door strategy important to today’s restaurateurs? In a foodservice market challenged for growth as customers pull back on dining out-of-home, focusing on growing areas of the market is a simple strategy to increase sales. A digital-door strategy will increase sales. According to NPD’s Crest data, customers who enter through a digital door spend more money — average eater checks for digital traffic are 54 per cent higher than on-premise checks for regular traffic. Furthermore, digital-door traffic drives higher average eater checks across all segments of the foodservice industry, including quick-service and full-service dining. Driving the increase in spending is the number of items per eater ordered through the digital door — 2.9 items per eater for digital traffic compared to 2.6 items for regular traffic.
In today’s highly competitive environment, innovation is key and this is especially true when it comes to the digital door. Enticing consumers (specifically millennials) to enter through the digital door can provide a platform of innovation for payment methods, menu items and general interaction with a restaurant brand. In turn, this equates to more items per eater, higher overall satisfaction and higher eater and party checks.

To successfully launch a digital-door strategy, operators need to ensure they understand and communicate clearly with digital-savvy consumers who want multiple touch-points with restaurant brands and like to share their experiences with others. And while the concept of creating a digital door seems complex or even confusing, the reality is it’s simply a tactic to enhance the consumer experience.

The digital door can help your brand engage with consumers in a way that is convenient and flexible, provides faster service and flexible pick-up, saves time and ensures order accuracy. The digital door also gives today’s restaurant brands the opportunity to drive more engagement via loyalty and rewards, while providing the opportunity to harness and leverage key data and informational insight.

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