Being that everyone needs food to survive, you would think that the food business would be the most resilient. The reality on the ground right now is that the hospitality industry is going through some turbulence. Even though overall revenues are set to rise in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia in years to come, it is still going to be a bumpy ride. Casual dining appears to be severely ailing with an estimated eight restaurants, pubs and bars shutting their doors every day in the period between; June 2017 to June 2018. The shutdowns were as a result of rising costs of running the establishments, coupled with stagnating sales figures according to a research report by AlixPartners.
According to a representative of Resto, a blockchain based platform geared towards the hospitality industry; fierce competition was a major reason why most restaurants were struggling to keep their doors open. While technology has been touted as a major way to fix the issues to do with eateries through apps such as Uber eats and Deliveroo, Resto argues that most of these tools are unable to move with the pace of the public. Resto claims to have devised a global solution to aid food eateries while also helping their customers have a better experience.
Resto’s solution will see restaurants bin their loyalty cards in favor of Resto’s all-in-one app, which will see customers accumulate tokens based on where they eat while also gaining from huge savings on meals. The customers will also be able to fairly rank the eateries through the app. According to Resto, the app will also help lower costs by reducing the costs of launching Loyalty programs. Resto has cited examples where loyalty programs through technology have been a success.
The case of Domino’s pizza is one such example, with customers able to buy food using their phones, smart watches, amazon echo, cars, and Twitter accounts. This easy access has helped Domino’s increase its conversion rate in a big way. Resto’s ICO was launched on 10th October and is expected to close on the 14th of December. The company is expected to launch beta versions of its platform for restaurants and diners next year. Resto is positive that a good number of eateries will accept their tokens all around the world.
