While traveling recently I found myself in an airport with a long enough layover to enjoy a leisurely meal. As I walked past four restaurants, trying to decide what culinary mood I was in, I noticed something I had never seen before. Each restaurant provided an iPad for customer use at every table. This is a trend that will soon spread to all physical retail venues, as the merging of physical and digital marketplaces continues to yield greater convenience for customers and more profit for businesses.
Here’s why I believe this trend will only grow. As I was seated in the restaurant of my choice in the airport, I could easily observe some of the benefits of customer-facing devices. My customer experience began with an examination of the menu, and when I was ready to order I simply did so on the device itself—no flagging down the server. Then I ordered dessert and paid my bill, all without human interaction. I used the device during my meal to surf the Internet on a screen larger than my Smartphone, and generally enjoyed an added dimension to what would otherwise have been another mundane meal on the road. The efficient nature of the experience was not only positive for me; it also allowed the restaurant to operate with lower overhead because one employee was able to offer great service to more customers. And the task of changing the menu or any customer messaging digitally, rather than physically, is far more cost-effective for the business…
Combine Digital And Physical Marketing Efforts To Increase Sales
