Introducing Dine-In Ordering: Contactless Menus and Payment for Restaurants
How contactless dine-in ordering by BentoBox changes the game for restaurants.
Restaurants today are hyper-aware of the need to drive reliable streams of revenue for both on-premise and off-premise operations to keep their doors open. With the challenges of COVID-19, operators and platforms are finding new ways to adapt and scale with the rapidly changing environment.
Our mission at BentoBox is to empower the world’s restaurants to succeed in their mission of hospitality. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have remained laser-focused, with all teams across the company working every day to meet restaurant needs while anticipating new ways to help.
“We are so impressed — Low Inventory, Order Pacing, and Printer Integration have all been timely responses to the ever-changing needs of our restaurant. It’s obvious to us that BentoBox cares deeply about clients in this industry!
Customer Feedback About Online Ordering During COVID-19
Today, we’re excited to announce a new solution that solves a need for restaurants small and large. Dine-In Ordering strengthens hospitality and drives repeat visits through a seamless, safe experience for staff and guests.
Introducing Dine-In Ordering
Dine-In Ordering delivers contactless ordering that’s fast, safe, and simple for restaurants and guests. Eliminate high contact, manual touchpoints such as taking orders, and closing checks. Interactions between servers and guests become more purposeful, deliberate and focused.
Here’s what we know:
- Restaurants need to generate more revenue right now.
- Maximizing revenue through staff and table volume is no longer reliable.
- The path forward is through automation and turning higher profits with fewer tables.
- Adapting to new processes must be low-cost, fast to set up, and low-effort. No exceptions.
- The hospitality industry is transforming, with an increased focus on health and safety.
How Dine-In Ordering Works
Once guests are seated at a table, they immediately see a tabletop sign that directs them to a QR code. When they open the camera app on their phone and scan the code, their phone automatically pulls up the restaurant’s digital menu. From there, items are added to cart and table number is entered at checkout.
With payment captured at the time of order, there is no longer a need to drop the bill, collect a pile of credit cards, swipe a card, leave a receipt, or manage tips by hand. Guests can easily add a drink, dessert, or additional courses in seconds without wait times that result in table spend drop-off. Incoming orders can be seen by the restaurant as soon as they come in through a real-time feed.
“Dine-In Ordering is helping us to serve more covers per day without any additional labor.”
Justin Weiss, General Manager Mercy Me.
Why Guests Prefer Dine-In Ordering
On-premise guests want to reduce their contact with menus and servers. In a survey of U.S. diners, we found that 73% had concerns touching reusable menus. On top of that, three in five guests want to limit interaction with the staff.
Digital options reduce contact without training or adding costly measures. Complimentary tabletop signs by BentoBox are also a visible symbol to guests in a restaurant. They transform guest phones into a tool to order and pay that is simple, fast, and a comfortable source of contact.
Dine-In Ordering also introduces automation and accuracy that saves 10+ minutes per table. Rather than listening to orders and transcribing, servers see orders firsthand.
Guests are no longer beholden to busy servers, they have the immediacy to order and pay at their own will, and they feel safe.
“With Dine-In Ordering, our guests love the control to leave as soon as they’re ready, because they already paid the bill. They don’t need to wait on server availability at the end of their meal.”
How Dine-In Ordering Drives Revenue
Dine-In Ordering converts more visitors into paying customers. Restaurants turn tables faster and deliver a safe dine-in experience that brings guests back. Email addresses are captured for every table, offering a list to pull from for contact-tracing and providing wider marketing reach.
“Our patio guests love the ability to order on their own! We’re seeing 33% of tables add follow-up orders, driving higher spend without the added labor.”
Heidi Washam, GM at E.Z Tiger
What Restaurants Say About Dine-In Ordering
Easy-to-Use
With this new paradigm for dining in, servers no longer write down orders or spend time closing out a table. They refocus their time on hospitality, becoming the sommeliers of food. As hospitality transforms in the wake of COVID-19, restaurants must tailor their levels of interaction to the needs and comfort of guests. Front-of-house (FOH) operators tell us the platform is easy-to-use, with little training required. Servers can enter incoming orders into the POS or BentoBox can print to the kitchen automatically.
Menu Updates are Instant
Any time menu prices need to be adjusted, new items added, or old ones removed, this can be done in seconds without any menu printing. A staff member just presses “Save” in BentoBox and the change is automatically reflected to guests.
“We love the ability to update our menus in real-time without any printing. Any time we add or edit a menu item or change a price, it reflects automatically.”
Heidi Washam, GM at E.Z Tiger
One Platform for Dine-In, Pickup, and Delivery
No need to add a new login to manage contactless dine-in orders. Consolidate platforms and deliver a seamless guest experience online. Restaurants using Dine-In Ordering gain access to Bento Ordering, with pickup and delivery included as part of the monthly cost.
Why It’s Worth Adapting to the New Norm
Contactless dining is the future for restaurants. Dine-In Ordering by BentoBox is easy to learn and has the industry’s most affordable pricing with payback in a single meal. Our team builds out ordering experiences for every restaurant, and we print complimentary tabletop signs for each table.
