NEW REPORT: Why Mobile Order-Ahead Is On The Menu

For nearly a century, restaurateurs have looked to speed to gain an edge over the competition.

Since Harry and Esther Snyder, the founders of In-N-Out Burger, debuted order-ahead services in the late 1940s, restaurateurs have hoped that allowing customers to order their food in advance would keep those customers happy, and coming back for more. Now, with a huge boost from mobile technology, restaurants — from coffee shops like Starbucks to burger joints like Red Robin — have embraced advance ordering powered by devices like smartphones and tablets.

Add it all up, and the mobile order-ahead industry seems to be set for explosive growth. Recent industry projections forecast that mobile ordering could be available at hundreds of thousands of restaurant locations around the U.S. by the end of the year and could even be available at up to half of QSR locations in the country by 2018.

Enter the PYMNTS.com Mobile Order-Ahead Tracker, powered by LevelUp, which is taking a monthly dive into the world of eateries allowing customers to place orders and perform other transactions with the tap of a mobile device. The Tracker monitors the latest trends in the industry, what the biggest companies in the space are doing and what innovations are coming soon.

This inaugural edition of the Tracker contains news on mobile apps, from companies including Wawa and McDonald’s, and takes a look at new features from some the most popular mobile order-ahead apps, from players like Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks.

Control and Convenience

The debut issue of the Tracker also features an interview with Kramer Johnson, head of Digital Experience at Chick-fil-A. PYMNTS caught up with Johnson to talk about the chicken chain’s mobile order-ahead app, which debuted in 2016 and boasted more than two million users as of earlier this year. Johnson said that Chick-fil-A built its own mobile order-ahead app with designs on offering customers more control over their dining experience.

“The mobile app is the remote control for the Chick-fil-A experience, and it’s really designed to give consumers control over every aspect of a transaction,” Johnson said. “You can order-ahead and pay with it, you can earn rewards or treats with it, you can customize your own order exactly how you want it and then save that order so you can re-order anything with just a couple of taps.”

To read the full article, along with the latest news and trends from the space and profiles and scores for the 29 biggest players in the space, check out the inaugural Mobile Order-Ahead Tracker.

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To download the April edition of the PYMNTS.com Mobile Order-Ahead Tracker, powered by LevelUp, click the button below.

About the Tracker

The PYMNTS Mobile Order-Ahead Tracker, powered by LevelUp, serves as a monthly framework for the space, providing coverage of the most recent news and trends, along with a provider directory highlighting the key players contributing across the segments that comprise the mobile order-ahead ecosystem.