How modern payment technologies are used by catering around the world

The profitability of any catering company, both within the online and offline channels, according to the experience of our processing company PayOnline , critically depends on two factors: the speed of payment processing and the level of customer loyalty. Therefore, the use of new payment technologies and loyalty cards has gained widespread worldwide in cafes, restaurants, bars and pubs. And in this area a lot of interesting events are taking place, which over time can form market trends.

To begin, consider what McDonald's does in the United States, where its activities are faced with several factors at once:

• Growing protests of catering workers. They require a minimum salary of at least $ 15 per hour.
• Competitive pressure from smaller, but more agile enterprises (for example, Starbucks, Domino's, Taco Bell) that are already actively using digital technologies in customer service.
• Caused by the previous two points, a significant drop in the company's profits. Over 4 years, the number of clients of this network fell by a total of 10.4%.

The first McDonald's vending machine appeared in Boston at the end of January of this year. The device performs some of the functions of the service personnel - distributes free food (though only to those who have Twitter). In order to get a free "Big Mac", it is enough to retweet the messages of this machine, with an offer to try the new "Big Mac".


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Is it really a “brave new world”, where every time you can get a hamburger for a tweet and always be full? No, just an advertising campaign, but which made it possible to successfully stand out from the competition.

“This is just a fun way to be modern and progressive,” said Vince Spadea, McDonald’s owners cooperative spokesman. “I think we will see people in line for such an automaton.”

At the same time, Vince Spadea denies rumors that this is a preparation for replacing waiters with robots and speaks only of the marketing step.

McDonald's focuses on other technologies that should make their enterprise more profitable by the end of 2018: the development of self-service kiosks, digital interactive menus, and even online table reservations.

Other fast food businesses

Colonel Sanders, who specializes in fried chicken, is not doing well in America. Over the past 14 years, the KFC network has lost 1,200 restaurants in the US out of 5,472. There is a need for urgent measures, and, starting in 2015, a complete reorganization is taking place here with the menu being updated, modern advertising targeting young YouTube audience is coming out. Digital technologies are actively used in customer service. For example, in the German city of Munich, the KFC network offered customers digital trays that allow you to connect a smartphone and use the wide screen without fear of getting your device dirty. In the US, you can pay at KFC using the Apple Pay payment system.



There is significant growth only in the Chinese segment of KFC - there they have tens of millions of customers, at least one third of whom are paying with mobile devices. In China, you can use the mobile app to reserve a table and food in advance while you still go to the KFC restaurant.

Starbucks, Domino's and Taco Bell have already been mentioned.

Starbucks has long and successfully used loyalty cards. The total amount of user funds that are stored on loyalty cards and mobile application accounts: $ 1.2 billion, which is more than customer deposits in some large banks. Their loyalty program has been expanded beyond catering, “stars” are awarded for purchases of various goods in stores related to Starbucks.

And now Starbucks points that are credited to loyalty cards can be spent using a mobile application. Using the same application (available on the App Store and for Android) your order is paid for, monitored and booked. The program also prompts the way to the nearest Starbucks establishment. Restaurant and coffee shop owners know exactly what consumers want: according to surveys, 77% of Americans aged 18 to 34 want to pay their orders with their mobile devices. And now 22% of purchases are made through the Starbucks mobile app, 6 million Americans make an order in this coffee house every month. And on the company's website there is a personal account where you can watch your balance and even transfer money between various loyalty cards.



Domino's are becoming increasingly popular in Europe. Their online sales market in the Netherlands grew by 44%, and in Belgium by 125% over the year. In the Netherlands, 92% of orders are done online, and pizza with the help of special applications can be ordered via Apple’s smartwatch or a driver’s GPS navigator. Payment is made by bank card, the Bancontact mobile payment application that is common in the Netherlands, and also via PayPal.



Taco Bell offers its customers a mobile application for the App Store and for Android, which allows both to make and pay for the order, as well as to request home delivery. The app shows the nearest Taco Bell establishment on the city map and allows you to give the chefs a request to prepare your order while you are on the way.

And the Subway sandwich maker combines the ability to pay with a loyalty card in its mobile application, Burger King allows you to pay for your hamburger using a smartphone. Pizza Hut, Chipotle, Chick-Fil-A, Tim Hortons, Dunkin Donuts food chains are not far behind: they also have mobile apps with similar functionality. However, new payment technologies are being actively developed not only by fast food companies, but also by restaurants and coffee shops.

Coffee houses, restaurants and pubs using new technologies

The Wagamama restaurant chain began testing MasterPass technology from Mastercard for contactless order payment. The new application for PayPal makes it possible in the US to pay for your lunch in advance, in one of the 2,000 restaurants included in this program. Chain stores in China already use biometrics, allowing you to make a payment only by showing the face and hands (or rather, a capillary pattern of the bottom of the eye socket and a papillary pattern of the fingers).

And we will not forget about those who come to skip a glass of beer in their favorite pub in the evening. These customers also use digital gadgets, like everyone else.

Pubs also did not stand aside.

There are many applications that allow you to pay for food, taxis and even a hotel room from a mobile phone. And the first application for visitors to bars and clubs was the Rooam program, which you can pay for a drink without pulling out a wallet. Rooam also shows events in nearby bars, making it easier to build a route from one pub to another.

And in one of the bars in London, they installed a fully automated system: by attaching a smartphone to the glass tabla of the device with a tap, you can pay for a pint or two of beer, which immediately begins to pour into the mug after the operation is approved. The technology has significantly reduced the queue, and it is expected that it will also be used during concerts and sporting events.



And another interesting initiative was jointly organized by the twelve bars of New York: creating an application that allows you to combine drinking buddies through a social network. Pre-customers download the application and connect to it their financial information. Then any of the participants can set up their options, for example, “stand up and leave,” and the payment is automatically deducted from his card, set the split of the bill for payment between the participants, and even send a drink through a virtual application to a friend, which the institution’s waiter will immediately bring him.

It is difficult to say which of these innovations will take root, and which ones will remain experiments. One thing is certain: the competition of catering enterprises and the free exchange of ideas for the application of digital technologies in this area are only for the benefit of consumers. The average waiting time in the queue is reduced, the level of service increases, and loyalty programs become more convenient.