Restaurants Increasingly Finding Mobile Payments Means Better Sales

January 8, 2024         By: Steven Anderson

Starbucks is easily the best example around when it comes to mobile payments. The company did so well offering mobile payments that it actually hurt store sales for a while; there were so many online sales that staff was frantically trying to make enough to meet those sales, which left a lot less time for in-store orders. Most likely won’t have that problem, but the rise of mobile technology—especially mobile payments—is providing a lot of extra opportunity for growth.

For restaurants especially, a mobile presence is vital. Naturally, mobile payments are a great alternative here, allowing users a quick, simple and useful way to cover a check. But mobile payments here are really only a starting point. Build those mobile payment systems in with your online menu system and make a way for customers to order and pay remotely. That can cut a lot of time off individual tables, assuming customers even want to sit at a table to begin with.

Additionally, remember your social media presence. You can build those mobile order and pay systems into Facebook and similar such operations to at least some degree, encouraging customers to leave reviews right from the platform. Sure, not all the reviews will be good, but a couple of bad reviews can actually help authenticate the good ones. Who believes a profile with nothing but positive reviews? A few bad experiences—especially if you’re shown managing them directly—helps confirm you’re a business run by humans, not a sanitized social media profile.

Don’t forget there are several kinds of mobile payments. Sure, you take Samsung Pay, because you take credit cards. Do you take Apple Pay? Are you offering a quick response (QR) or barcode system? If you take several different payment systems, you expand the restaurant’s potential reach to people who use those systems.

In the end, it’s all about appealing to the customer. We’ve already seen the impact that mobile order-ahead systems can have, along with mobile payment systems. Giving the customer what they want—an easier way to pay, a shorter time waiting for food, an easy way to tell others about an experience—is a great way to ensure that customers keep coming back. What you do for your customer is likely to come back to you in the form of greater sales.