No XXII International Logistics Forum, held 3 weeks ago, in one of the lectures that most interested me (KS08 - Seamlessly Connecting Customer Expectations with Omnichannel Execution), the speaker stated that “the future is self-service”. While he was referring specifically to buying goods, I recently found on a trip to San Francisco that services are still evolving in this regard as well.
The Eatsa restaurant, which already has 4 units in the Bay Area, is vegetarian and specializes in quinoa bowls (which is nothing new when it comes to California…).
Figure 1 – Examples of Eatsa dishes
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The great innovation, not by chance in the cradle of the tech revolution, is that orders can be placed and, mainly, withdrawn without any interaction with humans.
Orders are placed via iPad at the restaurant itself. For now, despite being quite intuitive, there is a human to help if there are doubts in using the application. The experience can be even faster if the customer wants to use the mobile app en route to the restaurant. From the moment the credit card is swiped, the personalized experience begins. Even if it is the first time, the machine already “treats” the client by his first name.
The menu shows the photo and ingredients of each bowl, the amount of protein, calories, if it contains gluten, lactose and if it is served hot or cold. If interested, the customer can choose to see more nutrition details. There are ready-made options (chef suggestions), but it is also possible to fully customize the combination of ingredients.
Figure 2 – The tablet for ordering in the store
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New recommendations are also shown based on customer preferences. Previous orders are shown and the customer can order them with a single touch (one-touch ordering), further increasing agility.
Each order is taken from a “cupboard” on the wall, since there is no one working the front line of the restaurant. The ports are covered with a transparent LCD screen.
Figure 3 – People waiting in front of the “closet”
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When the order is ready, the screen goes black, so you can't see the placement in the drawer by the kitchen staff, making the experience more surreal.
Figure 4 – The food “closet”. Notice the black screen, which shows that the order is ready
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After that, the door screen changes color and shows the customer's name.
Figure 5 - The screen with the customer's name
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Additionally, the list of orders is displayed on a large screen and newly arrived orders are highlighted along with the number of the drawer they are placed in.
Figure 6 – Screen also shows newly arrived orders and the number of drawers
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This new approach generates huge savings in personnel for the restaurant, which are reflected in savings for the consumer. Each bowl costs about $7. In San Francisco a smoothie can cost more than that, so the price really counts.
In addition, saving time is also another big success factor. As is to be expected in a self-service restaurant, on average, the lead time to extract the bowl through one of the doors is about 3 minutes. As placing the order is also extremely practical, the total time is reduced.
Of course, the fact that fast food is still healthy also weighs heavily on this specific audience and the restaurant has been a resounding success.
Figure 7 – Novelty has been attracting public attention in the United States
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It is not a strategy that applies to any restaurant, but it can certainly be used in different types of establishments with a proposal for fast or takeaway food.
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