Apex’s Mobile Pay Helps Restaurants Serve Sans The Wait

Apex – a leader in real-time, automated vending solutions technology – introduced its new baby to a room full of restaurant reps in Chicago during the National Restaurant Association 2015 Show, according to a release issued last week (May 15).

Apex AnyWhere Secure Self-Serve Solutions is set up like a locker and is intended to improve restaurants’ on-the-go services with the help of mobile and online payment technology. For example, a click-and-collect customer can order a complete meal from a restaurant or use the Apex Pay mobile app to place an order on the way to work for a coffee to-go. Meanwhile, restaurant staff load the order from the back of the lockers, gaining in workflow efficiency. And the order stays at the perfect temperature – hot or cold – as the Apex locker controls temperature. The customer picks up the cashless purchase from the front of the Apex smart locker system in a matter of a few minutes. Taking its roots in the grocery retail business, the click & collect model could further spread to restaurants thanks to Apex’s new locker-style vending machine.

The big plus is that the secure transaction platform, the Apex Trajectory Cloud, uses smart technology to enable a seamless integration with the retailers’ existing systems. It also provides precious data on buying behaviors, real-time service and delivery performance.

According to Apex CEO Kent Savage, “Apex AnyWhere systems allow restaurants to make it even faster for customers to place an online order, skip the register, pick up their order from a stylish, sleek and secure locker and even pay with virtually no waiting. Customers will appreciate the automated convenience and time-savings and will use the service again and again.”

This is yet another example of how restaurants can use technology to make customers’ ordering experiences smoother but also enable higher productivity and gains. Chili’s Grill and Bar, for instance, recently turned to tablet manufacturer Ziosk based in Dallas to replace its menus with digital tableside tablets at its restaurants around the country. According to Ziosk, guests who use the tablet are 10 times more likely to enroll in a restaurant’s loyalty club and 20 to 30 times more likely to participate in a guest satisfaction survey, giving restaurants even more insights into their customers’ experiences.