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tactless payments if they perceived them to be secure. "Fast who install the best tech will ultimately be the winners;
forward almost two years, and contactless and touchless customer centricity and data are becoming the two most
commerce are widely adopted and supported at almost all important aspects of a business."
QSRs," Kronenthal said. "Technology has enabled a new
world of commerce, giving consumers the ability to pay With growth of takeout and delivery, Izzo expects dining
more safely and securely with contactless, QSR codes and room footprints to shrink as restaurants dedicate more
mobile ordering." space to cooking and preparing orders. This may include
implementing a central kitchen or ghost kitchen, he stated,
Mark Bunney, director, go to market strategy at Ingenico, or repurposing space to accommodate more delivery driv-
a Worldpay company, also noticed how much attitudes ers and order-ahead-for-pickup patrons who will come
have changed since the FreedomPay and Ingenico study into their stores. Mobile apps, loyalty programs and digi-
was published. "I remember talking with people [about tal ordering will continue to scale as restaurants move to
customer engagement and personalized offers]," he said. frictionless ordering and third-party delivery services, he
"And now, people are more guarded about their privacy in added.
stores and online. As markets evolve and change, we want
our partners to be successful not only today but five years Bunney urged QSRs to be bold, experiment and take
from now." chances. He spotted a QSR trying different approaches at
the drive-thru during the pandemic, first by handing POS
Commerce enablement devices to drivers, then by passing credit cards back and
As Baltazar noted, at the height of the pandemic, when in- forth in Solo cups and finally getting it right with a tap-
door dining was not an option, service providers launched and-go solution. "In the QSR market, 60 to 65 percent of
initiatives to help QSRs stay open, productive and con- revenue is captured at the drive thru," Bunney said. "We
nected to customers. These programs reflect the interde- try to provide solutions that make it easy to engage, take
pendence of tech and QSR partnerships. payments as part of the experience and also make it safe
and socially distanced."
NCR established a global coronavirus task force to help Open-ended models
maintain employee safety, customer safety and business
continuity along with a coronavirus resources site with Open-source technology and trusted partnerships hold
tips to help restaurants navigate the new environment. the key to next-generation QSRs, Kronenthal stated. "It is
"When restaurants needed to satisfy customers looking vitally important that QSRs work with a capable, trusted
for safer, contactless dining experiences, NCR answered partner to enable them to understand the possibilities of
the call," Izzo said. commerce technology," he said. "FreedomPay is seeing
widespread adoption of new tech to make it faster and
FreedomPay created a Touchless Commerce program to safer to order. The implementation of Tip on Device at
enable merchants to digitally serve consumers in a variety the counter is a means to drive incremental revenue with
of ways, from curbside pick-up to QSR codes. FreedomPay higher average tickets and we believe curbside is here to
partners played a pivotal role, Kronenthal stated. "Going stay as a revenue center."
forward, the world of fintech will be won and lost by open
partnerships and tech collaboration," he said. Kronenthal went on to say that he expects online order-
ing and curbside pickup to enhance but not replace in-
Ingenico implemented a COVID-19 action plan in the early door dining. Human beings will always want to be served
days of the pandemic, rolling out safe, socially distanced food, eat with friends or grab a quick bite not made in their
solutions. "The goal with all of these projects is enable- kitchen, and merchants will continue to offer incentives,
ment," Bunney said. "It's how can we enable the ecosystem, experiences, offers and rewards to entice the customer
how we enable our partners and their customers; that's back, he noted.
what we're seeing with the flexibility of POS technology
solutions." Bunney suggested that technology partnerships are be-
coming more flexible and open ended. Ingenico has re-
Next-gen QSRs structured its service model to make it easier to customize
When asked what the future holds for QSRs, executives and scale. "This is exciting for our sales team because the
lauded technology's role in facilitating a frictionless cus- sales approach is very different," he said. "Unlike a termi-
tomer experience across channels and devices. nal sale, where you provide specs and then you're done,
a terminal-as-a-service model allows us to dig into a cus-
For Kronenthal, choice in delivery, pick-up and mobile tomer's challenges and customize accordingly."
payments is key. "Most consumers love the flexibility born
from pandemic-enabled-tech," he said. "The payments in- Bunney noted that customizations are also possible with
dustry is rapidly becoming a technology play and QSRs traditional hardware sales but tend to be more static in
nature; providing hosted terminal estate management,

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