Restaurant chains go 'smart'

Hungry kya? Well, the days of queuing up at a restaurant or waiting for exasperating 20-30 minutes to order food by phone, is a sign of past. In today’s smartphone world, restaurant chains are investing in having their own free apps through which people can order online via their laptops and smartphones.

This is a win-win situation for both customers and the restaurants. Customers don’t have to waste time talking to executives on phone whereas restaurant chains keep them connected with customers and help inform them about offers, promotions and new menu items. Jubilant Foodworks, the parent company for Domino’s and Dunkin’ Donuts reported a 5.3% decline in same-store sales as compared to 6.6% in last quarter. Whereas, the company’s mobile app has crossed 2 million downloads and 27% of their sales are through online orders. Hardcastle Restaurants, the west and south region operator for McDonald’s has gone up from 5% to 30% this year.

Online food ordering platform, foodpanda.in, which connects 4000 restaurants in 100 cities and operates in 40 plus countries has now crossed 5 million downloads of its app. The signs are clear, for people, there is an emerging preference towards using mobile apps for online ordering, ahead of computers and tabs. Undoubtedly, everything is really just a click or swipe away!