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Call Sales: +1 (833) 437-3835
Sydney Kida | January 6, 2021 |
It’s well known that the restaurant industry has been historically slow—and occasionally resistant—to the adoption of new technology. However, a global pandemic did eventually accelerate that adoption rate, namely for contactless technology. With a COVID-inspired magnifying glass on cleanliness and sanitation, touchless, digital solutions are more popular than ever. But this focus on low-touch interactions will likely outlast the pandemic response. Whether you’re looking to expand your digital customer solutions or are just getting started, this blog post explores the Revel contactless features in detail. Here’s a closer look at how our platform supports touchless consumer transactions:
With many dining rooms closed for business, consumers have sought off-premise solutions for their favorite restaurants. Delivery is an option that has long reigned supreme for pizzerias in particular, but delivery management is no small addition—or cost—for operators just beginning to explore the solution.
Fortunately, pickup orders are a great off-premise dining option that align with hot and fresh food, quick service speed, and relatively low investment or operational change for restaurateurs.
Whether customers place orders online or over the phone, pickup ordering is an order type Revel now offers with enhanced communication options between an establishment and the diner. Enhancements include estimated food ready times, order status updates, and pickup directions. With Revel’s pickup ordering operators can also request pickup information, such as vehicle type and arrival confirmation from customers.
A new contactless pickup feature Revel added in 2020 was an order ready board, a digital display showing orders queued, in progress, ready for pickup, and categorized for drive-thru, takeaway, or delivery.
For an in-depth look at Revel’s pickup solution, visit the Pickup Ordering article on our help site.
While online ordering was on Revel’s product roadmap long before the pandemic spread worldwide, our team accelerated development on the latest product enhancements and offerings to meet a surge in demand for this product in the spring of 2020.
“For years, merchants have been working to extend their brand experience off-premise,” explains Chris Lybeer, chief strategy officer at Revel. “The effects of the virus are fast-tracking that goal, and many of our clients have expressed that they’re allocating resources to compete digitally.”
Indeed, spending on meal delivery services was up 70% year-over-year in the last week of March, 2020. Retailers have seen a spike in eCommerce demand, too. Nearly 95% of the U.S. population was affected by stay-at-home orders in 2020, causing a massive shift towards an already growing mechanism for buying and selling goods.
Whether for food or for products, online channels were essential for connecting consumers and businesses in 2020. And with technology’s pervasiveness and an unyielding expectation of convenience, online ordering is here to stay.
In alignment with this lasting trend, Revel launched Online Ordering XT, a fully brandable solution with a mobile-friendly user interface that allows complete merchant control of the online customer experience. The product is a completely re-envisioned eCommerce solution. It provides merchants with competitive, customizable order options, all fully integrated with the Revel platform.
Here are some of the ways Online Ordering XT elevates off-premise transactions for consumers and merchants alike:
As referenced earlier in this post, delivery has long been an off-premise solution for restaurants. Full delivery management requires some investment, though. This includes a fleet of drivers (whether outsourced or in-house), order tracking and management through your kitchen, payment solutions for off-premise orders, and in today’s marketplace, on-going updates throughout the order process to keep your customers informed.
Third-party providers certainly help offload and streamline the lift of delivery management for operators, but at a literal cost. Businesses can forfeit up to 40% of their average order to third-party providers.
If you have the operational bandwidth for in-house delivery management, it can do wonders for your revenue. Revel has offered native delivery management to its clients for years. Additionally, our team adjusted the 2020 Revel product roadmap to fast-track an enhanced delivery management solution in the aftermath of the pandemic stronghold. The new solution—Delivery XT—is a leader in the native delivery management space.
Delivery XT is Revel’s end-to-end, brandable delivery solution designed to improve order accuracy, speed of service, customer communication, and overall transaction satisfaction on every order. With dedicated apps for driver assignment and tracking, driver route directions, and delivery management with best-in-class reporting capabilities, Delivery XT is a full suite of apps integrated directly into the Revel point of sale.
Here are some of the ways Delivery XT propels off-premise service to the next level:
Reduce on-premise exposure and contact with contactless payments solutions. Available for mobile wallets and credit card chips alike, Revel’s platform offers you a variety of payment options, including the latest in contactless transactions. As with all of our payment integrations, contactless options are EMV compliant and come with point-to-point encryption (P2PE).
Learn more about contactless payments and the technology that backs them in this blog post.
Whether you’re seeking a cloud-based POS and business management platform for your business, or are simply interested in adding contactless solutions to your operations, connect with a Revel specialist today to get started.
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