Service Design Applied: Reinventing the restaurant experience during COVID 19.
Long gone are the days of missing out on a Friday night reservation in one of the city’s most cherished establishments, however, there are still virtual queues to get food delivery from our world’s most renowned restaurants. Coronavirus chaos has pushed restaurants to either shut their doors and sell toilet roll or reinvent their service models at lightning-fast speeds. The list of top restaurants successfully offering home meal solutions and in-home dining experiences is growing, and it is evident these businesses have used service design practices and principles to ensure they can charge top-end prices. I am going to explore in this post how high-end restaurants have arisen to the challenge, the Service Design techniques they have used, and what changes in our purchasing and eating behaviours will mean for the future of the food world. Is dining at home, the new dining out?
1. It pays to know your in-home customer journey
The Prince of York, a former top-tier wine bar and restaurant in the heart of Sydney successfully designed ‘on-trend’ home service offerings this month by analysing and responding to the behaviours of their socially isolating customer base. The typical customer to enter Prince of York pre-COVID is a white-collar, city working, Gen Y and Millennial, who appreciates talking over loud music, oysters, cold cuts and $25 Margaritas.
Jumping on board the Friday night HouseParty trend, where many of their customers like to enjoy a few drinks over a video chat, Prince of York has created the Prince of Booze service. This involves providing 1 liter of their customers favourite cocktail mixes to enjoy whilst running a Houseparty or Zoom quiz at home. This genius service pivot stems from a thorough understanding of their customer base, their habits, and their in-home customer journey. Whilst there is not a need to buy expensive Margheritas in the city on a Friday, there is a new need to pour pre-made cocktails over video calls, and this comes with a sufficient price tag. Price of York has successfully isolated the ‘Iso-Essentials’ and have created a party at home experience, delivered to your door, with zero contact.
2. The Desirability, Viability, Feasibility model is timeless
The iconic Canlis in Seattle announced last month it would halt its award-winning dining experience, to become a drive-thru service with only 2 options. Once hearing the news of the pandemic, the restaurant decided to shift their focus onto the needs of the city (which was not fine dining) and design food services for different segments of the day. This completely new business model was designed using the desirability, viability, feasibility (DVF) model for innovation. What services could they provide that were desirable for their customer base, financially viable, and require no new capabilities, technology or processes?
In the mornings Canlis provides Bagels, and in the evenings, they switch to burgers and salads. They often sell out of their 500 bagels in 90 minutes. The market enthusiasm for drive-thru acting as a protective barrier, combined with a cost-effective and well-versed menu that is loved amongst their customer base means they are still in business. Times may be changing, but the DVF model still stands invincible.
3. Customer Experience is paramount
As tempting as it is to spend every hour of lockdown streaming Netflix, most people have now turned off Tiger King and are seeking differentiated, skill-fuelled, sharable and meaningful experiences.
A.Wong in central London is among many Michelin-starred restaurants that will now be hosting a series of interactive cooking masterclasses. The famous chef-owner Andrew Wong developed a series of Zoom Masterclasses where he spent 2 hours running through live classic dishes such as Char Siu Pork and Dim Sum with a group of high-paying customers.
Experience Design is all about creating valuable end-to-end experiences, and we do that by understanding people’s problems and needs and creating experiences that will improve their lives. A.Wong has successfully framed the problem; customers are seeking authentic human connections and fine dining experiences within the walls of their own homes. More than ever the customer experience is paramount, and virtual cooking classes led by the head chef is an outstanding solution to ensuring customers feel connected without direct human contact.
What does this mean for the future?
As seen by these 3 case studies, COVID 19 has changed customer expectations, needs, and behaviours. Top tier restaurants that can recognise and adapt to these changes, will succeed. Taking the time to listen to the market, embrace empathy, and experiment around opportunities using the DVF model will allow restaurants to reinvent revenue streams.
So what is temporary and what will stick? As consumers have essentially been forced into delivery services or curbside pickups for chef-driven food, it has increased comfort and confidence levels. I believe we will see a continuation of high-quality food delivery or take out, with a focus on safe food handling practices. It may soon become the norm for high-end restaurants to provide a full take-out menu, with lavish packaging and premium drop off options.
The actions that restaurants are taking today will most likely outlast the crisis and will define loyalty and market perception in years come. Customers more than ever pay attention to how much businesses care about their people and the wider world, so prioritising authenticity, transparency and honesty will go a long way. Finding new ways to reward customer loyalty will put restaurants in good stead to prepare for a post-COVID world.
Despite falling into an industry that is traditionally reliant on person-to-person contact, pioneering restaurants have successfully re-invented the concept of fine dining experiences using Service Design methodology.
