While some restaurant-goers would argue smartphones are ruining mealtime (i.e. the constant Instagramming), technology has become an integral part of the dining experience.
A recent survey of more than 7,300 Canadian diners by online restaurant reservations company OpenTable found 90% of respondents wished they could use technology to access a hard-to-get-into restaurant, and 81% wish technology could inform them how long the wait for a table would be.
The survey concentrated on six cities: Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg, and included consumers who had made at least one reservation on OpenTable in the past 12 months.
The vast majority (82%) of Canadians regularly check out menus online before dining out. Forty-two per cent of Vancouver diners “always” or “frequently” use technology to look for deals prior to dining out. That’s 13% cent higher than the national average, and makes them the most deal-conscious in the nation, according to OpenTable.
“Our study clearly shows that Canadians love to use their devices throughout the dining experience – before, during and after a meal… and it’s profoundly changing our dining habits,” said Ziv Schierau, head of national accounts at OpenTable Canada.
During meals, 23% of Canadian diners “always” or “frequently” use their phones to research reviews or see what other diners have ordered, and the same number take photos to remember the experience and share on social media. But, that happens less at fine-dining establishments: 64% of respondents eating out at a fine-dining restaurant said they rarely or never use their phone during the meal, compared to 40% of those at a full-service casual restaurant.
When it comes to in-restaurant technology, 54% of diners in Calgary have tried an on-table touchscreen to browse the menu and place an order, compared to the national average of 50%.
Just 6% of Canadian diners have paid using their mobile device at a restaurant, but 47% of respondents who have never used a phone to pay at a restaurant said they liked the idea.
The most common post-meal technology activity among Canadians is to coordinate plans with others (14%), while 13% share their experience on social media. Another 12% of diners interact with a restaurant’s loyalty program using technology.
Only 6% of Canadian diners are “very likely” to download the app of an individual restaurant or restaurant group; 30% are “very unlikely” and 23% are “somewhat unlikely.”
Schierau doesn’t find the low number surprising. “We already have so many apps on our phones… and for [a consumer] to then think about opening up all these different individual apps for restaurants, it wouldn’t be top of mind,” he said. “I think more and more diners want aggregating sites where they can search for multiple things.”
But, restaurant operators need to use consumers’ love for their mobile devices to their advantage, said Schierau. “They need to embrace dining technology and incorporate it into the restaurant in a way that fits their concept,” he said.
“While casual dining restaurants might have more opportunities to incorporate technology into their experiences, it doesn’t preclude fine-dining restaurants from doing so. They can also embrace technologies to ensure that they have mobile friendly websites, up-to-date online service information and social media accounts for easy sharing.”
