Restaurant And Hospitality News – February 9, 2015
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
In news this week, Taco Bell’s is leveraging its mobile app for bigger bills, $7.3 billion a year is wasted on Wi-Fi and roaming charges, and Wendy’s is leveraging mobile ordering and integrated messaging to outperform its competition. Also, Samsung is developing a new Samsung pay and some top solutions for PoS attacks.
Taco Bell’s Mobile App Increases Average Bill By 20 Percent
According to Bloomberg Business, Taco Bell is leveraging its new mobile ordering app to increase the average bill fulfillment by 20 percent over its regular orders. The most popular add-ons for the nearly two million people using the app cost from $0.30 and $0.70, depending on location. And Tressie Lieberman, senior director of digital experience and social engagement at Taco Bell, told Bloomberg that the biggest advantage of the app is that it unlocks the entire menu, displaying not only add-ons but lesser-known items and sides that may get lost on crowded restaurant menu boards. Taco Bell's new app also leverages customer impulse purchasing by suggesting chips, cheese, or other options during the checkout process.
Study: $7.3 billion wasted annually on Wi-Fi and roaming charges
According to eHotelier, a recent study has demonstrated that U.S. companies waste over $7.3 billion a year, paying to keep business travelers connected. The research, conducted by Amba Hotels, found that the average US business traveler spends $15.10 on Wi-Fi and roaming charges per trip. Mike DeNoma, CEO of glh, the parent company of Amba Hotels said, "Wi-Fi is consistently one of the key criteria that influences our guests' choice of hotel – in fact for some people, it's more important than a good night's sleep! Our Wi-Fi has no caveats, no loyalty schemes no limit on uploading or downloading. It's the fastest, free, unlimited Wi-Fi of any Meeting & Events hotel.”
Wendy’s Leveraging Mobile Ordering, Loyalty Program To Outperform Competition
This article from Mobile Commerce Daily shows how Wendy’s has been able to leverage its new mobile ordering platform and POS integration to boost sales. “Wendy’s has talked the single biggest hurdle holding back mobile engagement in the restaurant industry,” explained Matt Silk, head of strategy at Waterfall, San Francisco. “POS integration for fulfillment and tracking of offers along with the fear of slowing down checkout has killed more projects than I care to remember. Now that they have made this investment, the sky is the limit on what they can do,” he said of Wendy’s move.
Will Samsung Pay Be A Reality?
According to the Tech Times there are confirmed reports of Samsung in talks with LoopPay over potentially creating their own mobile wallet system for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S Edge. The new Samsung Pay will be compatible with near-field communication (NFC) technology as well as older magnetic swipe cards.
Best Practices To Protect POS From Malware
In this article from Network World, Jamey Heary worked with Cisco to highlight the top three solutions to significantly reduce the chances of breaches of POS systems. They modeled attack scenarios after recent breaches and other attacks to architect a security solution that would provide the most protection with the lowest disruption to the PoS environment. The article details how to structure response in each of the phases “before,” “during,” and “after” an attack.