The authors of the Cornell study, Consumer Preferences for Restaurant Technology Innovations, conclude that to be economically viable, technology must do something that adds value in the eyes of customers – that if customers believe that an innovation adds sufficient value, it is probably here to stay. The technologies in which study participants currently find the most value are:

TABLESIDE VIRTUAL MENUS with nutritional information
Although in limited use today, tableside virtual menus with nutritional information were considered by participants in the Cornell technology study to be the most valuable among the 11 technologies presented to them. Legal requirements and consumer demand are driving an increasing number of restaurants to consider ways to deliver nutritional information. (A number of local and state menu labeling bills – with mandates about how much information must be posted, where it has to be displayed, and how small a chain has to be to qualify for exemption – are in place and/or pending; federal legislation was introduced in 2009 that would mandate a national standard and consistent format, overriding any state and local ordinances.) A point of discussion regarding legislation is in what ways nutritional information may be delivered to consumers; TableTop Media’s wireless digital tabletop device (called the “Ziosk”) has been approved as a display device in King County, WA, for purposes of delivering nutritional information – with the added advantage being that restaurateurs don’t have to reprint or create supplemental menus. In addition to providing nutritional information, this interactive digital technology can help promote specific menu items with images and descriptions (which TableTop Media’s data has shown to increase sales by as much as 15%), including healthy options. Depending on what a restaurant wishes to do, the interactive technology can also be used by guests to place orders, play games, pay their bill (with the option to print or email the receipt), watch movie trailers, and buy tickets to nearby theaters.

GUEST PAGING
The Cornell technology study reports that guest paging is the technology customers use most frequently (56%) and consider highly valuable. Systems using individual vibrating pagers to send a signal to guests when their tables are ready have been employed by restaurants for some time; pager technology is now moving towards Web-based software, replacing pagers with devices consumers already have in their pockets – mobile phones. Queuent’s interactive Wait List Manager pages guests by calling their mobile phones. When guests check in with the host, they provide their phone number and are given an estimated wait time. “One of the biggest benefits is in mall locations, where a 30-minute wait is no longer perceived as a liability because guests don’t have to hang around the restaurant as they did with handheld pagers; they can go shopping, run errands, etc.,” says Bob Walter, ceo, Queuent. Guests receive a call when their table is ready and are prompted to accept (press one), delay (press two), or cancel (press three). If guests choose delay, they are automatically called back in 15 minutes. “One of our clients has seen a nearly 10% increase in business using mobile paging, and guests say they are much happier to wait for a table if they can use the time productively.”

VIRTUAL MENUS ONLINE with nutritional information
Online menus that contain nutritional information were used by more than a quarter of consumers in the Cornell technology study. Some restaurant companies have taken the lead and provide far more than is legally mandated – including nutritional calculators, healthy eating tips, information for those with food allergies and diabetes. (For a list of examples, visit More Resources.) Even those restaurants for which posting nutritional information is optional are responding to consumer interest by providing similar information. (In its 2009 Restaurant Industry Forecast, the National Restaurant Association reports three in four adults say they are trying to eat healthier at restaurants.)

The challenge becomes how restaurants can best undertake the costly and time consuming process of analyzing their recipes – another area where technology can play a key role. As an alternative to chemical analysis, which must be done in a lab where food is tested for exact nutritional content, Internet-based options such as healthydiningfinder.com calculate nutritional content based on scaling data from previously tested ingredients. Costs are dramatically reduced using this kind of database analysis, and, with the amount of each ingredient calculated for all recipes, companies can more accurately price menu items.

HANDHELD ORDER TAKING
The Cornell technology study reported that over 90% of customers said they like having orders taken on wireless handheld ordering devices while waiting in line, both inside stores and in drive-thru lanes. These devices link to a restaurant’s POS system, and orders 
are sent immediately to the kitchen – allowing food to be ready for pick up when customers reaches the front of the line, cutting waiting time, and speeding up service. While more often used in quickservice and casual restaurants handheld ordering devices are showing up in fullservice restaurants as well (The Stinking Rose, San Francisco, CA; Legal Sea Foods, headquartered in Boston, MA; Tumbleweed Southwest Grill – see page 4). Handhelds can also be loaded with more information than simply menu items and beverages, i.e., information about wine – including food and wine pairings, ratings, and region/grape information.

ONLINE RESERVATIONS
According to the Cornell consumer technology study, online reservations is one of the most highly used and highly valued technologies. In another recent Cornell study, “How Customers View Online Reservations,” approximately one-third of the nearly 700 respondents had made an online restaurant reservation. This study underscored what many restaurants have discovered, which is that online reservation technology assists in attracting customers and makes restaurants more accessible. The study found that many online reservations are made when restaurants are closed, which means that the restaurant is likely capturing business it might not otherwise receive.

OpenTable.com has emerged as the dominant player in online restaurant reservations in the U.S. Their system includes reservation and table management, guest recognition, and email marketing. Member restaurants are listed on OpenTable’s site and/or OpenTable can power reservations from restaurants’ sites. “Most of our member restaurants do both. They want to drive customers to their own Web sites and also appear in an Open Table search,” says Scott Jampol, senior director, consumer marketing. Reservations are free to end-users; the company charges restaurants monthly for use of the system and per-reservation fees. LiveBookings.com, Europe’s largest online reservations and marketing service, provides an interface that is added to member restaurants’ Web sites; reservations are also driven through a network of partner sites. LiveBookings members pay a fee per reservation.

What’s the future of online reservations? Niklas Eklund, ceo, Livebookings, thinks that the future is global – Livebookings is expanding into the U.S. “We already see reservations in multiple languages, from all over the world. And our small restaurants are competing with large restaurant companies, leveling the playing field quite a bit.” Scott says that at OpenTable, “We’re really excited about the mobile space – delivering the ability for users to make reservations when they’re away from their computers. We now have iPhone, Blackberry, and Palm apps, as well as a mobile Web app, all of which can use geography in a sophisticated way.” Based on current locations, users can find the nearest restaurants based on time, party size, etc. As a result, OpenTable is seeing more weekend activity and more reservations made closer to the time of dining. Wait-list only restaurants can also tap in to technology’s power to accommodate a shortened time frame. GuestBridge, a U.S.-based reservation, table, and wait list management company, provides software enabling clients to manage their wait lists electronically and streamline the process on both ends. Customers sign up – indicating timing and party size – from their computers or via mobile applications. The system can auto calculate wait times, which helps to manage customer expectations says Claire Ellington, vp of marketing and operations. While the wave of the future, another finding of the Cornell online reservations study is that participants felt a better personal connection with the restaurant when they made telephone reservations. The study’s author, Sheryl E. Kimes Ph.D., advises restaurants to emphasize the convenience and encourage customers to use online reservations, but to continue – for now – to use both telephone and online reservations.

KIOSK-BASED FOOD ORDERING
According to the Cornell technology study, just under half (49%) of respondents walked out of a QSR in the previous year due to long lines, and 34% did so more than once. Younger customers (aged 18-34) have the least patience, with 69% walking out once and 49% walking out more than once due to long lines. To help manage high customer volumes during peak times, ordering kiosks are being added in quickservice and fast casual establishments. Besides increasing speed of service, kiosks also increase order accuracy and reduce labor costs. Another benefit is that the systems can consistently upsell by asking the customer if they want a drink, side dishes, desserts, etc. – yielding 5-30% higher average checks, according to a Self-Service Technology Study by Hospitality Technology. Self service has become a way of life for consumers who have adapted at gas pumps, ATMs, airport check-ins, grocery checkouts, etc., and over 70% of those interviewed in the Cornell study say they value the use of kiosk ordering.

“What are you doing with mobile phones? They are more powerful today than computers that shipped three years ago. There are simple ways you can build connections with consumers based on the technology they have in their pockets right now.” – Sandra Andrews, director, hospitality industry solutions, Microsoft