Since the onset of the pandemic, corporate cafeterias across businesses are going cashless and adopting technology to ease customer experience. While phasing out paper money entirely would be a huge undertaking, some cafeterias have stopped accepting bills or coins and have completely gone digital. Businesses see the transition as a step toward the future, largely because cafeteria point-of-sale systems make transactions hassle-free.
Here’s how technology combined with cashless counters at cafeterias enrich customers’ dining experience:
Operational Ease
The cashless movement in cafeterias has been a huge blessing for customers as well as the cafeteria owners because of the operational ease it offers. Consequently, the cashless payments trend in corporate cafeterias is growing rapidly. Digital transactions come with simplicity, security, and trustworthiness. They are often free from discrepancies and customers no longer fret over erroneous reconciliations.
Superior Customer Experience
Imagine going to your office cafeteria, completely famished after working for hours and finding a long queue at the cash counter! Each one of us would have gone through something similar that would test our patience. A cashless cafeteria, in contrast, waves off prolonged delays. As digital transactions are carried out by customers themselves, it saves time.
Online Ordering
If your cafeteria has limited seating, it will be better if the customers can book a seat online in advance. The cafeteria customer base can be expanded if the process of ordering food is digitized. Now with the online ordering management system, cafeterias can view all customer information on a single interface. Cafeterias can quote accurate wait timings for both walk-in customers and for those who made prior orders.
Customer Feedback Management
Asking for feedback is crucial to enhancing any cafeteria service, and businesses can leverage technology to gather and evaluate customer feedback better. Instead of using a feedback form, businesses can use a feedback management app that asks for feedback from customers based on the items ordered and the service. This itemized-level reporting helps businesses identify the performance of the dishes on the menu. The app will eliminate the scope of errors and the need for manual updating of data.
Effective Usage of data analytics/business intelligence
Cashless cafeterias can help businesses leverage customer data. Once cafeterias have a complete record of customers’ transactions, they will capture data such as their regular choice of food, favourite meals & drinks, and eating & ordering patterns, among others. Within these specifics, lie opportunities to retain customers by extending loyalty programs. Once cafeterias have pertinent data captured relating to their inclinations, they will have a better understanding of what it would take to keep customers fulfilled.
The introduction of technology and a cashless pay model is convenient not only for corporate cafeterias but also for customers despite concerns about the loss of choice. As consumer-facing businesses, cafeterias are caught between wanting to lower their operational problems and enhancing safety and security, of which handling cash is a big one. At SmartQ, we are leading from the front in reshaping the corporate cafeteria ecosystem by designing and building tech-driven eateries that deliver a queue-less and cashless dining experience.
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