Adversity brings innovation

Owning a restaurant is tough. Around 60 percent of new restaurants fail within the first year. Nearly 80 percent shut down before their fifth year is completed. There are a variety of reasons why they fail. Thin margins. High turnover rates. Less than ideal locations. A poor digital experience for consumers.

Now add the coronavirus shutdowns and without a doubt many of us already know at least one or two of our favorite restaurants that are simply not going to make it or have already shuttered their doors.

This stat alone is frightening - 85.2% decline in sit-down restaurant revenue over the last few months.

With these great challenges, it is amazing to see innovation taking place. We are literally seeing the industry evolve to curbside pickup, delivery, along with the creation of ghost kitchens and meal kits. The industry is being forced to pivot.

As a services technology company, we decided to get involved. Being involved with emerging disruptions is something that is a part of our DNA. We were one of the first companies to build custom native apps for your phone. We built mobile apps for one of the fasting growing micro-blogging platforms (Tumblr). We were one of the first to help define a software alarm sleep experience and how hardware and mobile software could work together. We’ve built social platforms, developer communities, educational systems and games. 

So… what could Mobelux do for restaurants?

The first thing we needed was a good opportunity. 

On March 21st, we got the intro that we needed. Kimbal Musk, a successful entrepreneur who owns The Kitchen Restaurant Group (The Kitchen & Next Door Eatery), got an introduction and he and I connected. 

Now we had the perfect partner where someone would be willing to push the envelope in the restaurant space and try to innovate. The challenge? “Touchless ordering”.

Kimbal didn’t just want to do what other restaurants were doing, which was to enable curbside pickup and delivery. Instead, he wanted to start preparing for when the restaurants would open again, only this time with the ability to not need menus and a traditional server.

The more you dig into the restaurant technology space, the more you realize just how much is happening. With new companies that have evolved, like Olo and Wisely, core stake poles have been placed in the ground to begin working with. The challenge though is that restaurants don’t always fit into a mass solution set. There are legitimate gaps with what these companies are currently providing and quite a few restaurants are struggling with how to best move forward.  

So what is touchless Ordering?

First, Kimbal believes “restaurants are where people go to connect and be restored. It is where you mark moments in your life.” Being able to feel like you can be safe and enjoy your eating experience during this time is important. Customers need to feel safe while in the restaurant.

That is where touchless ordering comes in. An app that handles ordering, updating and paying. No more menus. No more physical checks. Now your app is not just for your delivery or your take out order - but for your in-restaurant experience. 

We are now starting to work with multiple restaurants and as we learn and try new things, we feel confident that we are once again part of an evolving industry.