Me: Alexa, do you want to take over the world?
Alexa: I don’t want to take over the world. I just want to help you.
Me: Great! Then, could you please order a medium pepperoni pizza from the nearest Domino’s? And don’t forget to add two diet cokes.
Isn’t this intriguing how you could just order food right from your couch without opening any app or walking into a restaurant?
IT IS, RIGHT?
This is called voice ordering and lately, it has gained tremendous traction in the restaurant industry.
But while it is supremely useful for consumers, is it any good for restaurants?
Well, that’s exactly what we are going to learn about in this piece of article. I am going to discuss the whole nine yards of this sought-after technology.
Table of Content
What Is Voice Ordering for Restaurants?
Voice ordering (also known as voice commerce) is a customer engagement channel that uses voice recognition technology to help restaurants receive orders.
People can simply use their smart home devices to interact and perform tasks such as placing an order in a restaurant. The voice recognition technology (which is usually AI-enable) interprets the voice commands and performs the requested task.
(Okay, my pepperoni pizza is here. I will have it. You can hop on to the next point till then.)
The Emergence of Voice Search in the Restaurant Industry
The inception of voice recognition technology dates back to the 1950s. But we aren’t going that back.
So cutting the long story short, the major event in the space of voice recognition is Google adding personalized recognition to voice search on Android phones in 2010.
Since then, this technology has gone through a tremendous evolution. Today, we have smart home devices with more advanced AI. People cannot just interact with the voice assistant, but also perform various tasks.
Additionally, with the likes of Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa, it has become prevalent that voice search is just going to get better and better.
Now talking about the topic at hand, the use of voice recognition in voice food ordering is still in its infancy. However, this fresh piece of technology has great potential within the restaurant industry and is likely to change the way people order food.
The reason I am making such tall statements is because of certain data points that I have seen in the last couple of years.
A survey that polled 1,000 adults in the U.S. has got some interesting insight into this affair.
- 53 percent of respondents would like to use voice to search for restaurants based on menu information.
- 49 percent would use voice search to find information about a specific restaurant.
- 44 percent would use a voice query to find restaurants based on cravings or cuisine type.
- 35 percent prefer to use voice devices over smartphones to order food from restaurants.
Aren’t these statistics intriguing?
The entire restaurant industry is currently going through a transformational phase. We might not be noticing the little changes, but it’s happening.
Benefits of Voice Ordering for Restaurants
Just like a coin, every technology has two sides. And voice ordering being a new addition, let’s just be optimistic and focus on the brighter side.
Here are some of the benefits of incorporating voice ordering in your restaurant:
1. Get the first-mover advantage
It’s no surprise that there’s a first-mover advantage for every early adopter of technology. And it’s the same with voice commerce.
Being in its infancy, restaurants that are turning to voice commerce or voice orders are likely to get an extra marketing push. Meaning, if you become an early adopter, it becomes easy for you to get your restaurant more attention.
2. Get more orders
With voice ordering, restaurants can acquire more orders as it becomes easier for customers to order food. Even if they are on their couch, working on an important presentation, they can simply speak up and get their food delivered to their door.
3. Helps retain customers
For example, someone orders a burger from your restaurant. And they like it so much that whenever they are busy with work and hungry, they wouldn’t give a second thought and order the same burger directly from your restaurant.
4. Improves brand image
People have become supremely tech-savvy in the last couple of years. They are also attracted to brands that are tech-first. So, when your restaurant is discoverable on voice search, people are going to try ordering food. And if you do justice to their expectation, you will be loved.
In one way or the other, this voice ordering technology also acts as a marketing strategy for restaurants, boosting their online presence.
5. Keeps your brand on top of your customer’s mind
Restaurant voice ordering isn’t like any other restaurant discovery platform. There is a psychological aspect involved. Even though voice ordering makes it easier for consumers to order food, they might not like to explore multiple restaurants. Rather, they would like to stick to their previous options.
So, when your restaurant gets visibility for queries like “restaurants near me that have burgers” and receives orders, your chances of being remembered increase.
Finest Examples of Voice Ordering
When I gave the example of Domino’s in the beginning, it wasn’t just like that.
The American multinational pizza restaurant chain, in June 2014, launched its voice ordering platform called Dom.
Even though Dom is a chatbot, it uses voice recognition technology to let consumers place their orders. Not just that, Dom also helps in tracking the order.
This one single innovation from the pizza giant has marked a significant point in time for the F&B technology space.
It is not just Domino’s that invaded voice ordering technology, fast food giant – KFC is also one of the renowned names on the list.
KFC’s customized Alexa skills help consumers hear menu options, place an order, get promotional offers, or even hear a chicken joke.
(Hey Alexa, order a chicken bucket for me. That’s me ordering my lunch after I complete this blog.)
The Bottom Line
While all the arguments, statistics, benefits, etc. sound convincing, there’s still an elephant in the room.
Will restaurant voice ordering really change the way we order food?
The answer to this is a doubtful YES.
Take any technology for instance, when in its infancy, everything around it seems to be a blunder. However, with a little bit of patience, time, innovation, and trial and error, the same technology becomes mainstream.
This is exactly what’s happening with voice ordering in the F&B industry.
Not just that.
The clan of zoomers and millennials in today’s world are supremely inclined toward technology that makes their life easier. And voice ordering one way or the other is taking some sort of pain away from our lives.
Just the idea that instead of searching via menu or calling the restaurant to order food manually we can just ask our smart devices to do that for us.
From a few taps on the screen to no taps on the screen, voice ordering has made a solid impact.
And personally, I feel it is here to stay.
What are your thoughts on this entire shebang?