AI to boost the restaurant customer experience

Digital tools at the service of the customer experience

In the restaurant business, the customer experience is at the heart of your success; it's no longer limited to the content on the plate, but must be all-encompassing. A satisfied customer will come back, recommend your restaurant to friends and family, and thus boost your sales.
Digital has been at the service of this experience for several years now. Let's discover together the tools at your disposal.

Today's tools for enhancing the customer experience

To cite just a few examples of applications or tools that help improve customer satisfaction and save time, we can mention:

• The "virtual queue" app, which takes the queuing process out of the restaurant and into your smartphone. With Skeepit, your customers join the queue thanks to a QR code, and track their position in the queue via a link received by SMS.
• The order kiosk, which increases the average basket and reduces waiting times;
• Smartphone ordering and payment: with several options available, such as splitting the bill or tipping.

These tools were already present before the arrival of AI: so what are the advantages of integrating Artificial Intelligence?

The customer experience transformed by AI in foodservice

First of all, let's recall the definition of Artificial Intelligence:
Artificial Intelligence is redefining the standards of customer experience in foodservice. By enabling advanced personalization and optimized operations management, it is opening up new opportunities to meet the expectations of modern consumers.

Today's AI is essentially Machine Learning: algorithms learn from data and improve through experience, unlike programming, which executes predetermined rules to the letter.

Dynamic pricing, to boost the attractiveness of your points of sale

With dynamic pricing, it's possible to adapt the prices of your menus and dishes according to footfall and current events. For example, you can offer a 20% discount on delivery orders to improve an unsatisfactory figure in real time.

Chatbots and voice commerce to optimize bookings

Today, more and more customers are turning to online booking. There are applications for this, but it's also possible to add artificial intelligence, particularly in two cases:

• The chatbot, or virtual assistant: integrates directly into your website to answer customers' questions and take their reservations. It also acts as a reservation reminder to avoid forgetfulness or no-shows. The chatbot can also advise the customer by engaging in conversation through a chat window at the bottom of the screen;
  
  
• Voice commerce : while this tool is still in the experimentation phase, some chains are testing order-taking in restaurants and drives to optimize time, reduce errors and boost sales. It remains to be seen whether customers will appreciate a service provided by a robot.

AI for suggesting dishes to customers

AI takes personalization a step further. Indeed, thanks to data from the loyalty program in particular, AI can suggest a dish based on the customer's preferences and habits.

This AI-driven tool is also possible on an online ordering application where your favorite dishes can be highlighted. It can also be coupled with dynamic pricing, directing dish suggestions based on footfall, events or your needs.

Order by scanner with Raydiant

American platform Raydiant enables restaurants to tailor menus to customers' desires, thanks to an AI that seeks to predict their moods and needs. To do this, the AI scans the customer to define age, gender, height and weight and thus tailor suggestions, also taking into account the time of day. This personalized experience could result in a perfectly tailored service for each individual.
In the USA, more than 4,500 restaurants are already using this system, which is not without raising ethical questions.

Tomorrow's innovations to further personalize the customer experience

Organized catering offers a wonderful field of experimentation for AI. But tomorrow's innovations will be even more astonishing.
It is estimated that in the future, a hologram could come and display the dishes, take the order or seat the customer at their table. Progress is on the march with AI, with some start-ups reportedly mulling over a unique digital experience where it would be possible to eat face-to-face with a remote person thanks to a hologram booth. If the experience isn't yet possible, Artificial Intelligence is already at the service of customer satisfaction.

How can you encourage the use of AI in your restaurants?

Beware, while Artificial Intelligence is a great tool, it's important to know how to use it. To that end, Adoria offers some valuable advice:

• Train teams in the use of AI to avoid reluctance to change and enable your employees to use 100% of this solution's capabilities;
• Stay tuned to the feelings and comments of your customers so as not to prioritize the AI experience to the detriment of the customer experience;
• Don't hide the use of artificial intelligence from your customers, transparency is at the heart of trust between restaurant and customer;
• Don't bet everything on AI: as with technology in general, you need to know how to keep your freedom and not be dependent on AI.
• Don't completely replace human exchanges with technology: welcoming and serving customers must remain warm and human.

In the next articles in this white paper, you'll discover other examples of using AI in your restaurants.

Discover AI-assisted Order Advice, to optimize supplier orders in restaurants thanks to AI.