Restaurant operators are always looking for the latest solutions to help them cut costs and provide better and faster service. Technologies claiming to do all three emerge daily, so FastCasual.com sat down with the CEOs or founders of four such companies — FrontFlip, Breadcrumb, Irisys and GoPago — to find out if their solutions are worth the investment.
New Restaurant Technology to help your business manage its guests
With Instagram growing from 5 million to 30 million users since its October 2010 launch, you can say that this new social media platform is making a big mark against Facebook and Twitter– with Facebook acquiring the photo sharing company for $1 billion in April. Brian Zuercher, Founder of social media photo aggregation company VenueSeen, shows us that 60% of Instagram users are sharing food and drink photos prompting more restaurants to get in on the action. Brands like Starbucks, Red Mango, Caribou Coffee, Dunkin’ Donuts and much more are sharing new menu items, using photo contests and other digital markting techniques to increase the overall
guest experience.
Are you optimizing Instagram or Pinterest in your current marketing strategy
Join QSR and Seth Priebatsch, Chief Ninja, LevelUp Nick Holland, Senior Analyst, Yankee Group and Chris Mahl, Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer, LevelUp on Thursday, May 17 at 2:00pm for a mobile payments discussion between industry leaders.
You’ll learn: Who’s first. Many consumers already pay with their phones. What tech are they using, and which businesses are on board? What’s working. Some mobile payment solutions have already come and gone. Learn what differentiates the winners. Why you’ll be involved. Mobile payments represent a fundamental shift in the way we do business, and there are new value propositions for all players in the space. Learn where you fit into the picture.
IDC predicts that spending on hardware, software and services in cloud computing systems alone will be $60 billion in 2012. The growth rate in the cloud sector is four and a half times that of the IT industry overall. Cloud computing is a compelling option for many small and mid-sized businesses, as well as larger enterprises, as it offers low cost of entry and ownership and faster time to market compared to traditional on-premise business software and servers.
MIT NYC Enterprise Forum presents Cloud Computing Event, April 18th.
As Daniel Barrett, Restaurant/Service Manager at Ava Kitchen & Whiskey Bar, puts it– “A picture really is worth a thousand words…”. Barrett claims that sales went through the roof after posting a picture to Instagram one day of their vegan-friendly pizza. Now places like Pinkberry and Mama Fu’s are optimizing brand recognition while syncing with other social media platforms depending on their audience.
See how these operations are using Instagram in their marketing campaigns. Things might pick up steam after notice of the $1 billion dollar sale to Facebook for the free app
According to a recent ComScore survey, 44% of smartphone users utilize a health-related app on a regular basis while 17 million people have accessed food nutrition information on their phone in late 2011– up 125% from 2010.
Since the release of Fooducate on iPhone in January 2011, it is reported that as much as 500,000 people use the app or website per week. How do you think marketing in the food industry will change with this information?
Although only 5% percent of New Yorkers claim to drink a straight shot of espresso, the Handpresso is a great idea for any coffee aficionado. The French manufactured device easily plugs into the cigarette lighter socket in your car with the help of a coffee pod.
Check out the viral video for this new product
The free access site will provide an online resource to culinary professionals and home chefs alike. There is no official launch date set for La Bullipedia yet.
Read about other plans that Ferran Adrià wants to start
PayDragon
By the scan of QR code or manually adding/deleting product items, mobile consumers can now place purchases on their phone. The app also bills consumers simultaneously with their saved credit card info.
PayDragon partnered with several food trucks to promote the app at a recent event. Patrons were encourage to sign up for the app and place orders for extra free goods
Dark Rye
From food and art to health and sustainable living, the new online publication will feature storytelling content via videos, recipes, photography, and articles.
We love the site– Kudos to Whole Foods! Check it out now
paigepapers.com 