Leaning Into New Possibilities Post-Pandemic

?It’s been two years since the pandemic ground our lives to a halt, and today, restaurants and C-stores look very different than they did before it all started. Consumer preferences have changed and so too have their behaviors and the way they engage with brands.?

As in all moments of great change, challenges and opportunities abound. One huge opportunity for our business is the mass acceleration of digital ordering. The adoption of digital ordering was well underway before the pandemic, but was greatly expedited with stay-at-home restrictions and limited restaurant hours. The good news? It’s here to stay and it’s transformed the restaurant industry for the better. Digital orders now make up half of all restaurant orders.?

From online ordering to increased takeout requests and third-party delivery, digital ordering offers incredible possibilities for personalization - bringing the technology increasingly closer to the consumer and their specific preferences. Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to recommend options to consumers to increase their order size and prompt them with similar choices based on previous orders. In other words, AI is an opportunity to drive individual action, provide superior customer experience and increase restaurants’ top-line revenue. In fact, AI-powered recommendations are 2x more effective versus manual recommendations.?

Certain habits appear to have changed permanently. Customers clearly appreciate the convenience of placing orders digitally, a technology trend that picked up steam just as the pandemic took hold.? Consider that customers who order delivery are incredibly loyal, with 31% of delivery orders coming from repeat customers. They tip better and more often, too; the average tip paid by delivery customers in March 2022 was 12.8%, compared to just 5% for takeout.

Simultaneously, the strength of current takeout order numbers indicate a clear desire for people to still get out of the house and have a one-to-one interaction versus at-home delivery. While delivery was king before and during the height of the pandemic, more recent data indicate that takeout orders now dominate online orders, with numbers even higher than they were pre-pandemic. Takeout jumped from approximately 35% of orders in January 2020 to a majority in March of 2022, a trend that appears to be increasing.?

As the industry continues to evolve, it’s our responsibility to optimistically harness these new opportunities and leverage them to better serve today’s consumers. The times are certainly a-changin’ and there’s much to be excited about.?

For more of the latest industry insights and opportunities, download the Paytronix Systems Order & Delivery Report and discover how the future of digital ordering translates to a better customer experience and a brighter future for restaurants and c-stores alike: https://bit.ly/3kVx7ot