Will that be cash, card, or phone? For most customers it is not uncommon to have little or no actual cash in their wallets these days. Thanks to a couple major companies most customers only ever seem to use a plastic cards anymore. Will the next change that we see be to Apple Inc. new apple pay technology?
When the conversion of cash to card happen it was very gradual drive. Fifteen years ago 90 percent of all transaction where paid in cash. Next year however it is predicted that 90 percent of all transactions will be made with credit or debit cards. Will it take Apple Pay the same amount of time to become this popular? If we look at how many people have smart phones it might not be as long as we think. Over the last 5 years smart phones have become extremely popular with more than 90 percent of customers now wielding smartphones.
What does this mean for you and your restaurant? Most people would say that it is a neutral shift for the restaurant industry. Yes there might be some initial costs to make sure that your system can accept this as a payment method and there might be some higher transaction fees. However, there are also some possible rewards that come with this. If your restaurant were using an IBeacon then you would be able to control what cards appear first when they go to checkout. Also, advertising that you accept Apple Pay might be able to sway more customers to visiting your establishment. The last potential benefit doesn’t really affect the business owner as it does the waitresses and waiters. According to some of the research that I found there will be preset tip amounts at the time of checkout. This could be huge, as most people don’t usually know how much to tip.
There are several companies that will be implementing the Apple pay feature right away. Those companies include McDonalds, Panera Bread Company, and Starbucks to start with. Subway and Chipotle are possibly going to be joining in with the others in implementing Apple Pay.
In my conclusion I would say that the switch to Apple pay would not affect the restaurant industry too dramatically. There are some initial costs that might have to be fronted to have a system that can except Apple pay, but there are also some benefits to having it available. In my own opinion I would invest to have Apple pay available in my restaurant after it has been on the market for a little while to make sure that the customers information will be safe.
Resources:
http://nrn.com/technology/panera-starbucks-chipotle-adopt-apple-pay
http://www.qsrweb.com/articles/will-apple-pay-be-good-bad-or-neutral-for-the-restaurant-industry/
http://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/business-trends/mean-cuisine/early-word-apple-pay-apple-s-new-e-wallet
http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/News/Digital-wallets-The-new-interface-of-mobile-paym
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