CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a clear surge of activity focused on improving the customer experience, the quick-serve restaurant (QSR) and foodservice industries are tapping innovative technology to take no-wait, customer convenience to the next level.
In fact, Apex Order Pick-Up Technologies™, the world’s leading provider of self-serve, automated order pick-up solutions, is working with more than 12 different QSR brands and a large number of foodservice operators and concessionaires to help them solve a critical industry issue – in-store order pick-up.
Apex made this announcement at the 2018 National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show, in booth 5870 where it is #FiredUp to be exhibiting through May 22nd.
Customers Crave Convenience
The explosive popularity of mobile order and pay apps and online ordering has created an unprecedented demand for in-store order pick-up. In the less than five years since Starbucks introduced the first QSR mobile order and pay app, order ahead programs have become available at more than 50 percent of all QSR locations across North America. And by 2020, Business Insider predicts order ahead will drive $38 billion at QSRs.
In-Store, Operational Issue Impacting QSR Sales
This additional throughput is creating a bottleneck in-store and frustrating QSRs as much as their customers. Uncertain order ahead customers wait in line with in-store diners, causing congestion that can scare away other potential customers. As a result, order pick-up has been identified as a serious operational issue that has a negative impact on QSR sales.
“Restaurants and foodservice are addressing the fastest, most profound shift in customer behavior we’ve ever seen,” says Kent Savage, founder and CEO of Apex Order Pick-Up Technologies. “It’s an impressive, industry-wide push to give customers the most convenient options to order and pick up their food.”
The industry is testing a variety of solutions to help eliminate process bottlenecks. They range from being too complex – involving multiple employee touches and inefficient pick-up processes– to being too simple – like designating an area of an already busy check-out counter. In the meantime, forward-thinking QSRs are looking at how self-serve automation technology might solve the in-store order pick-up issue.
Making Order Pick-Up as Fast & Easy as Ordering Ahead
The Flow-Thru Locker™ Solution from Apex makes order pick-up as fast and easy as the order-ahead process.
The two-sided lockers load from the rear, ensuring employee workflows aren’t interrupted while providing a well-defined pick-up area for order ahead customers. An easy-to-use order bump bar and status monitor makes order processing fast and efficient. This eliminates the need for employees to interact with order ahead customers, giving them more time to assist in-store customers.
The Flow-Thru Locker Solution integrates easily with a restaurant’s existing infrastructure – including point of sale (POS), kitchen display systems (KDS) and mobile apps. And they’re as easy to use as other self-serve technology, including ATMs, airport check-in and grocery check-out.
Discover how Flow-Thru Locker Solutions from Apex help restaurant and foodservice brands takeout the line during the NRA Show at booth 5870 or online. And to follow our coverage of the NRA Show, look for #NRAShow across our LinkedIn and Twitter feeds.
Apex Order Pick-Up Technologies is the world’s leading provider of self-serve automation for use in retail, restaurants and the foodservice industries. Our Flow-Thru Locker Solutions takeout the line to help our customers provide a fast, no-wait experience. With world headquarters in Mason, Ohio, Apex has offices in Australia, Germany, Poland, the UK and Latin America. To learn more about Apex, visit us online at https://www.apexsupplychain.com/Foodservice.