Over time, the industry has adapted, with old cash registers swapping places for more modern, cloud-based systems.
The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the next stage of the restaurant industry’s digital transformation: contactless dining.
With the gradual closure of on-site dining across Europe, businesses germany whatsapp number have naturally turned to delivery and takeaway to make up for lost revenue. A number have gone even further, introducing curbside pickup and contactless delivery to accommodate social distancing.
As restaurants across Europe prepare to welcome back customers for limited on-site dining, more and more are getting creative to limit physical contact between customers and staff and adhere to the health and safety measures required for restaurant reopening.
So, is contactless catering set to become a permanent fixture in the years to come or is it simply a passing trend linked to the health crisis?
In this article, we explore the best practices to put in place and some concrete examples of restaurateurs who have proven themselves in implementing contactless.
We will review:
Contactless in the restaurant world
Contactless Dining in 2021: The Brooklyn Dumpling Shop Restaurant Example
Different Types of Contactless Dining Solutions
The Modern Restaurateur's Guide: Reinventing Your Restaurant's Online Business
Discover in this free guide how to prepare your restaurant for short- and long-term success, no matter the circumstances.
Download the guide
What is contactless catering?
Contactless dining, or contactless dining, aims to minimize physical contact between restaurant staff and customers by facilitating social distancing to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
According to a McKinsey survey, seven out of ten consumers don't feel ready to take part in activities outside their home as they did before the pandemic. So on-site dining once restaurants reopen isn't necessarily a guarantee of a massive return of customers.
Our latest survey on European consumers' expectations about the future of catering confirms this: more than 30% of Belgian and Swiss respondents and a quarter of French respondents (24%) say they want to continue ordering meals (via delivery or takeaway) once the crisis has passed.
The contactless dining experience can also take the form of on-site dining within the establishment's premises, while minimizing contact between staff and customers.
For JP Coupal, co-founder of Coupa Cafe restaurant, contactless dining in establishments can “bring back some of that normalcy and give customers the joy of a past experience while minimizing contact and helping them feel comfortable.”