Today in this article as an experts with us will be the developer of the company “IT Fox” Julia,
Technical director of the company “IT Fox” Vladas,
Project management director of the company “IT Fox” Andrey.
Nowadays, the restaurant industry is becoming more and more digital. Most establishments have modernized, or at least started to use technological innovations in their processes.
Typically, restaurant owners are modernizing their business by creating a mobile app that allows customers to order takeout, or creating corporate software that improves the restaurant’s operations by simplifying internal processes.
Some restaurateurs focus on building relationships with younger audiences through positioning, while others expand their reach through promotions and push notifications in loyalty programs.
All of this, in turn, is a competitive advantage over other establishments.
Below are a few more statistical factors in favor of a restaurant app being worthwhile:
- The global food service industry’s projected worth was $3 trillion in 2020 and is expected to reach $4.1 trillion by 2026, with an annual growth rate of 5.4% (Global Industry Analysts, 2021).
- Foodservice makes up 40% to 50% of total food spending in the US, but this range goes down to 10% to 15% in developing countries (Global Industry Analysts, 2021)
- Sberbank CIB, as part of the “Ivanov Consumer Index” survey in June 2021, surveyed 2,300 people from 164 cities in Russia. It turned out that the share of orders directly from restaurants is growing. In Moscow, the number of customers among those surveyed increased year-on-year from 36% to 47%. Across Russia, the figure rose from 42% to 46% over the same period.
So, representatives of London Restaurant Group came to us to find out if it was possible to create an app where they could bring their loyalty program to mobile, which entailed writing two more programs to help their business. This is how our cooperation with LRG – one of the most popular restaurant chains in customer region.
At the first consultation, which, by the way, is free for anyone, we figured out:
-What a loyalty program application can be
-What kind of difficulties will our clien face
-What he lacks for the launch
-What development technology suits his requirements?
-What will be the cost and duration of work.
Usually restaurant apps help employees and managers interact with each other, as well as maintain relationships with customers, but sometimes their functionality goes beyond the usual, and we love and appreciate such moments, because at this point begins the creativity and paves the way for progress and somethiing completely new.
Case Study №1. Multi-platform mobile app for restaurant “Loyalty Program.
Our client needed a mobile app for IOS and Android, which would help their VIP customers join the loyalty program. Since the main customer segment is wealthy people, it was necessary to create an appropriate design.
Stages of restaurant app development.
Comments from the developer of “IT Fox” Julia:
“The work on this application can be divided into 3 stages, as we are now completely updating the application at the request of the client. At the beginning of the project the main task was to create a private application for privileged customers of Bar London only, where they could find out the news and get a discount. The technology of mobile development was chosen on react-native.
Here we developed a rather laconic design in all tones of the club”.
A version of the application design in the tones of the club
Basic functionality of the application.
After the preparation and analytics phase we implemented the following functionality:
– registration via sms
– individual account with two roles:
guest account (personal info and QR-code), a waiter account (QR-code scanner and guest information)
admin panel (web interface with the list of users, time of visit, invoices, etc.)
Process of application functionality.
Comments from the developer of “IT Fox” Julia:
“The second stage of our development is to add a virtual loyalty card to Apple Wallet and Google Pay to create the possibility of buying tickets to the events and implement QR code scanning from the tickets by the waiter. While filling the mobile application with functionality, introducing new ideas and design, we decided to switch to Flutter mobile development technology.
Based on that we needed to provide a UI with two roles: user and administrator/waiter”.
Role assignment plan
As the specificity of customer region is that they mostly go to the same places, it was suggested to give guests the opportunity to send an invitation code to their friends.
Also, we suggested:
-Record users’ food and drink preferences.
-Add comments about the users (problems, habits, etc.), so that the customer can become really useful to his client and gradually become better for him.
Here we changed the design and made it more concise and comfortable for the user’s eyes.
Interesting “features” and additional functions of the restaurant app.
Comments from the developer of “IT Fox” Julia:
“In the new development, the customer did not limit himself to one bar, but decided to add the complete network of his restaurants in another regions to the app and unite them under the LRG brand.
Now we have a task to integrate all the restaurants, connect Yandex navigation and Yandex-taxi, and develop a logical and clear mechanism of bonus loyalty. And we’re also working on connecting R-keeper, which will allow you to pay your bills with points”.
Integration process with R-keeper
Work results.
Mobile application, which was initially developed as an MVP to test the idea of converting the loyalty program to mobile format, today turned into a convenient and useful application, which was greeted with enthusiasm by the customers.
In addition, the app received high praise for its design and was featured in the list of best apps by design.
The advantages of IT-Fox in application development.
We have analyzed the market of application development service providers and now we can say why IT Fox is better than others:
– When you start a project, you are allocated a personal manager who will go with you all the way from start to finish. He will become your right hand and guide you through the world of mobile apps. He will plan everything for you, help you achieve your desired result, and provide you with a weekly progress report.
– You only pay for completed and accepted work, while many other teams will ask you to pay quarterly, and the work itself may stretch over several months.
– We also love what we do. We have true professionals working for you in our team, who are ready to tackle interesting projects.
– The level of training of our employees is only Middle and Senior. It means their great experience will save you time and money, while their passion for their own business will allow them to be one step ahead of the circumstances.
Case Study №2. Application “Foto Box” for the chain of bars and restaurants “London Group”.
Comments from the Project management director of the company “IT Fox” Andrey.
“In the process of developing a loyalty app, our client decided to improve the food quality of their restaurant. The customer shared with us that additional control over the appearance of dishes would greatly help the business.
We were tasked with coming up with a concept and developing a mechanism to record the look of the food coming out of the kitchen before it reaches the client’s table. At first the idea was something out of the fantasy world.
But if there is an idea, then there are options for its realization. And we developed an information system (IS), which here for simplicity we will call “application”.
Project goals and objectives.
The application works in conjunction with R-Keeper and several sensors that capture and transmit data to the IS:
– dish presentation
– weight
– temperature
After that the received information is estimated and compared with the standard, which is set in the system.
Imagine that you have the most demanding employee in the team, who closely monitors the quality of food in the kitchen and does not skip it further if he is not satisfied with something. He’s also incorruptible and has proof of inappropriate quality in the form of pictures. You can’t come to an agreement with such an employee if a dish doesn’t fit the restaurant’s standards.
“FotoBox” interface
Application functionality implementation process.
Unfortunately we can’t disclose the implementation process of the app as its most interesting features are under development and are kept in secret, but we will tell you all the details as soon as it becomes possible.
Results of work.
In addition to improving the quality of the dishes, the app has also given the customer the following features:
The incoming chef will now be able to embed himself into the team in short time, as he has detailed information on how the dish should look, what it should be served, the temperature, and how long it should take to cook.
Now the appearance and quality of the ordered dish always corresponds to what is stated on the menu.
As a result – increasing brand awareness.
Interesting “features” and additional functionality of the restaurant app.
We also suggested extending the administrator interface with a filter for the history of serving dishes and the ability to sort them by name; and with a view of such parameters as cooking time and order waiting time.
Case Study № 3. Restotchet application for London Group Bar & Restaurant chain.
Accounting for revenues and costs in the restaurant business is a special case: in addition to standard revenues and expenses need to consider costs for the production of dishes on technology charts, moreover, every month you have to make complex calculations of staff salaries.
In addition, restaurant managers are often faced with the problem of centralized accounting for different types of costs: there can be many restaurants and each has its own characteristics, and the head is important to understand all the flow of funds and see the big picture for all establishments.
If you do your accounting in excel, there are bound to be differences in the format of the reports from different restaurants, and sometimes the format of the report at one restaurant differs from month to month. Bringing all these numbers together in a final report is a very difficult task.
“Restotchet” was created to centralize all costs and revenues in a single format.
Implementation process.
Comments from the Technical director of the company “IT Fox” Vladas.
“I should say that the first stage of preparations to implement this application started a few years ago. At first a prototype on 1C platform was written.
Over several years we stuck to it in London Restaurant Group system, made a few hiccups, spent weeks coordinating reports, improved UI and solved the issue of integration with other systems”.
Results of the work.
The output was not just an application, but a software package that solved business problems and, most importantly, could act as a prototype for the future universal complex Restoretcheck. The new software complex uses modern technology, is easily accessible from any browser and integrates with the main information systems of the restaurant business.
Advantages of restaurant apps.
Let’s summarize and see what our client gets after implementing their apps :
-New sources of income, after launching Foto Box apps and restaurant business cost accounting software.
-Added brand loyalty and increased average check
-Enhancement of the flow of funds within the company
-Increased level of accuracy in reports
-The client saves money and nerves, as a result of which the responsibility of staff and the level of trust within the team grows.
This is the way our client has come all the way from the loyalty program idea to the truly unique software, which will benefit his customers and bring him passive income.
According to AgFunder, investment in consumer-facing food technology grew to $15 billion in the first half of 2021 . The field is still at the peak of its popularity, and it will continue to develop its infrastructure, and gain loyal customers in the future.
Not to miss out on the wave of success, we look forward to hearing from you about your project.
What can your idea lead to? Call us to find out!
