Study: More consumers use technology in restaurants

Washington, D.C. -- More than a third of consumers say they are more likely to use technology-related options in restaurants now than two years ago. According to new research from the National Restaurant Association (NRA), significant number use their smartphones to interact with restaurants on a regular basis, such as ordering delivery, redeeming rewards and paying for meals.



The NRA asked the consumers who said they are not using technology options more often why they aren’t using them more. Half of them say it is simply because they prefer dealing with human beings. This is particularly notable among younger consumers, where 61% of 18-34-year-olds gave this as a reason, while only 42% of those 65 and older agreed.



In addition, 15% say they don’t use these options more often because they don’t know how, 12% say the restaurants they typically patronize don’t offer those options, and 5% say they don’t use tech options because they don’t trust them to work correctly.



Overall, 70% of consumers say they own or regularly use a smartphone or tablet computer. This is more common among younger consumers at 90% of 18-34-year-olds and 89% of 35-44-year-olds. Among those consumers, 32% said they would use a smartphone app to pay their check instead of using cash or debit/credit card if offered.



Further, a majority of smartphone owners say they use their devices for several restaurant-related tasks at least a few times per year, such as to looking up basic information about a restaurant (location and hours of operation, for example), viewing menus, reading online reviews, using rewards and special deals, and ordering takeout or delivery on restaurant-branded apps. Half also say they look up nutrition information on their devices several times per year, and one-quarter use their phones to pay for meals at that frequency.



“While overall usage of restaurant technology options is still more common among diners in the Millennial generation compared with Baby Boomers, the age gap generally levels out when it comes to frequent users,” said Hudson Riehle, senior VP of research for the National Restaurant Association. “As restaurants integrate more customer-facing technology, usage among consumers is growing. When done right, it can help a restaurant’s productivity and the customer experience.”



The National Restaurant Association commissioned ORC International to survey 1,007 American adults in Oct. 2014 for their attitudes toward and use of restaurant-related technology options.