By Dirk Izzo
NCR Hospitality
Today's hungry customers rely on mobile for all their restaurant-related needs—from viewing a menu at the table, to placing and paying for delivery and carry-out orders.
Market research company Incisiv anticipates digital sales will comprise 54 percent of limited-service and quick-service business by 2025—a 70 percent increase over pre-pandemic estimates.
And you can help restaurants adjust their mobile order and payments strategies to create a frictionless experience customers have come to expect.
Mobile ordering and purchases provide customers a quick, efficient and safe way to transact. Placing a mobile order ahead of time can reduce drive-thru or counter wait times, increase prep time for food and drinks, and increase efficiency for speedy curbside pickup or touchless delivery.
Using mobile ordering capabilities, restaurants can program their mobile ordering apps to upsell and sway customers to try new menu items and integrate loyalty programs—all of which can lead to larger sales. Orders placed digitally average 20 percent higher than in-restaurant purchases, US Foods reported.
Restaurants can put their own spin on mobile transacting to facilitate customer retention and loyalty. Using digital platforms and their own mobile apps, restaurants can increase customer loyalty while collecting consumer data. And insights gleaned from mobile can help them personalize the customer experience, differentiating them from competitors.
Say, for instance, a customer uses a restaurant's app to order the same item every time: a double cheeseburger with extra mayo, ketchup, tomatoes, and pickles on the side. Knowing this, an employee can send in-app customized offers and messages, such as, "Can we get you your favorite double cheeseburger with the toppings you always like today? How about trying our special onion rings to go along with your burger?"
While evaluating your offerings for restaurants, ask whether your POS system integrates online payments natively rather than using third-party platforms; easily updates the menu, pricing and branding; offers detailed reports that include top-selling items, costs and ROI; has built-in security measures like CVV verification; and enables diners to easily scan, pay and go.
Today's customers expect ease like never before. Their digital devices enable them to push a few buttons to control the order experience and track it, too.
Mobile payments help restaurants personalize experiences, boost loyalty and deliver safe, frictionless transactions, whether patrons choose to eat on site, pick up their order from the drive-thru or have it delivered to their home. It's all about choice, which you can provide to your restaurant clients through mobile. 
Dirk Izzo is president and general manager at NCR Hospitality. Contact him via LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/dirk-izzo-b8040.
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