Finding a balance between digitisation and personalisation

Combating pandemic-era restrictions forced operators to accelerate their digital strategies, leading to dramatic changes in the dine-in experience. With a majority of businesses offering digital channels to meet consumer expectations, these solutions have been heavily refined in the two years since they were rapidly adopted, allowing brands to gather data on their consumers in the process.

MCA welcomed a range of leaders from across the sector for a roundtable discussion, at Hostech 2022, on digital ordering, payment, and loyalty, in association with Centegra, Deliveroo, Symatrix, Vita Mojo, and Sunday.

 Megan Burton-Brown, head of marketing, Tortilla

Burton-Brown spoke about how Tortilla went multichannel on delivery, stating “we went everywhere the customers were.” The biggest challenge for the Mexican concept was to keep delivering the customer experience, which has a “bit of theatre involved,” Burton-Brown said. Finding a balance between convenience and experience was key during the brand’s digital journey.

Ben Hibbard, head of marketing, Turtle Bay

As a 50/50 food and drink business, Hibbard explained how Turtle Bay has similarly focused on keep customers engaged after introducing a pay-at-table option. He reported the option had been successful with customers, many of whom prefer table service after the pandemic rather than waiting in queues at the bar. However, “everyone single server should have that connection with the guest,” Hibbard said. He also revealed the recently launched app with the built-in loyalty scheme has been successful.

Hannah Berry, director of marketing and communications, Corbin & King

According to Berry, Corbin & King’s service model incorporated a digital ordering option at café-style locations. She said: “We’ve worked really hard to make sure it’s enhanced the customer experience and not detracted from it…we were surprised at how quickly people had to reintroduce the QR code, which we thought would never come back.” Similar to other operators, Berry discussed finding the balance between digital solutions and personalised service that adds to the overall customer experience.

Jatin Chandwani, chief technology officer, KFC UK&I

Chandwani said KFC’s growth in digital sales has increased the pressure on its restaurants in terms of output. The focus in KFC’s digital strategy is now on automation to amp up productivity. “Now we’re looking at the kitchen of the future…how we structure our restaurants so that they can be more productive,” he said.

Timothy Love, head of digital, Burger King

Burger King’s digital plans were accelerated due to the pandemic, along with its delivery business. Love spoke about how delivery was seen as an “add-on” pre-covid, adding that “the biggest shift has been delivery and our sales mix, which is not something we were ever expecting to happen.” He also emphasised the importance of recognising which shifts are permanent and which are more transient, saying “we don’t know if delivery will be such an essential part of our business three years down the line.” Burger King is now focusing on structuring new sites in such a way that they are optimised to tackle high delivery volume, which Love thinks has created both an opportunities and issues as a permanent shift in customer habit.

Richard Whitehouse, director – digital product and transformation, Mitchells & Butlers

Whitehouse explained that customising digital strategies to fit differences between brands is key. He described digital solutions as convenient for both the operator and consumer, but placed emphasis on keeping the customer experience in line with the brand’s premium offer.

Fenja Zimmerman, head of restaurants operation, Harrods

Harrods currently operates 21 restaurants with different concepts, and a key aspect of the journey was determining which of them should be focused on table-only service and interaction with customers, Zimmerman explained. The brand is still refining and executing its concepts accordingly by understanding how digitisation “affects the customer journey and service steps for our team”.

Tasha Morrison, innovation manager, Whitbread

Whitbread’s strategy has shifted to increase its focus on restaurants, Morrison revealed. The operator “didn’t push the restaurant side of the brand much” prior to the pandemic but then realised “restaurants were key to our success,” Morrison said. The current emphasis is on creating a seamless link between the restaurants and hotels. Whitbread encourages customers to self-serve but also aims to have its staff to be seen as hosts by the customer. Additionally, the wide demographic and scale of a 1200-strong estate means new innovations cannot be rolled out rapidly, which is also an issue the operator has had to take into account while introducing new features.

Stasi Nychas, co-founder and COO, Neat Burger

As a startup, Neat Burger had the opportunity to digitally optimise its locations from the get-go, Nychas said. The brand is also intent on customising its tech proposition and incorporating digital features to serve a younger target demographic.

Neil Miller, chief information officer, itsu

Miller reported the addition of kiosks at itsu sites helped them tackle excess demand. He described the brand as a “peak-y” business in which demand peaks around lunchtime, with kiosks adding efficiency to the ordering process rather than disrupting the customer experience. However, some of itsu’s new openings will have different layouts more focused on dine-in elements to create a different experience, Miller said.

Hugo Engel, digital executive, LEON

Engel spoke about how the ability to connect with customers through transactions has fundamentally altered the sector. The challenge for Leon is integrating its customer and operations data together and making it more accessible to clearly identify and track KPIs, he said.

David Etherington, head of procurement and IT, CG Restaurants and Bars

CG sites incorporated digital order and pay immediately after reopening post-lockdown, but adoption is now “probably down to 10%” from 80-90% before, Etherington said. The operator is encouraging customers to go the traditional route of discussing recommendations and receiving personalised service at the bar, but offers the digital option for those who prefer it. Like others, CG is attempting to maintain personalisation at higher end sites but offering digital options at bars. As Etherington said: “We’ve got to try and continue to develop it and get the best out of it without compromising what we do as a business and the experience of coming into our bars.”

Elisabeth Osmont d’Amilly, general manager UK, Sunday

D’Amilly stressed that the Sunday payment solution did not detract from the customer experience but rather aimed to increase convenience so that customers did not have to wait to pay. She described it as “created by an operator for operators,” adding that the solution combines table service with digital convenience.

Nick Liddle, commercial director, Vita Mojo

Liddle placed emphasis on suppliers’ responsibility to operators to ensure a smooth customer experience with digital features, saying the “hardest thing is to get it to work with your staff and your customers.” He also mentioned the importance of training staff to enhance the experience so that digitisation does not overly depersonalise it.

Tom Bell, CEO, Centegra

Bell discussed data analysis as a crucial aspect of the digital journey, saying the role of Centegra is “to take all of that data in and utilise it as efficiently as possible.” With operators still refining the ways in which they process their data, Bell emphasised the value of quickly and efficiently providing insights.