The 5 e-moments of Digital Transformation in Restaurants

To attract new generations of digital native customers, our restaurants need to continue to evolve. This new generation of hyper connected customers is already here.

Our customers are exposed to different types of technological advances in their daily lives, i.e. when they commute, use bank services, take a taxi or find out about the news. As a result, their expectations of their favorite restaurants increase and they prefer the one that offers them innovative alternatives.

A successful digital transformation can have a huge impact by boosting the frequency of visits, ticket size and customer loyalty. However, food, value, and service level remain paramount for attracting and satisfying our customers.

A recent Deloitte study with more than 4,500 customers and different executives from the restaurant industry found that there are 5 main e-moments in which digital transformation can make a difference in customer experience:

• Choice: moment that follows the decision to eat out, but precedes the choice of a specific restaurant. For example, when we receive a McDonald’s App notification just before lunchtime.
• Entry: stage that covers the period between the selection of a restaurant and the time at which the food is ordered. Like when we search how to get to the restaurant on Google Maps or Waze.
• Hook: period that includes ordering and payment. Like when our customers choose kiosks to place their orders.
• Delivery: stage between paying for the food and receiving or picking it up. For example, when we wait for our food at a table, or when ordering by Delivery and tracking our order.
• Extension: period after a customer has finished eating and keeps interacting with the brand digitally. Like when we post a comment or rate our experience on social media.

Creating an Experience of the Future to serve the new digital generations of customers at our restaurants creates great technological and cultural challenges. The competition is intense and customers expect these innovations.

To succeed in this transformation, we need to understand our customers’ needs, explore technological advances, improve the way we analyze data and offer increasingly customized experiences that increase our customers’ preference.