Driving the Restaurant Business across the Chasm of Mobile Payment Adoption

Mobile Payment is making inroads in virtually every industry: from retail to e-commerce, and from roadside food joints to the sit-in trendy restaurants. With all the hype around mobile payments, the fear of restaurants before jumping the bandwagon is fully justified. Like any technology adoption, mobile payment adoption in Restaurant industry can be plotted on the adoption curve as:

Image Source: An article by Scott W. Ambler published on Dr.Dobb’s website

If the mobile payment adoption in restaurants has to cross The Chasm, it has to address the top concerns facing these businesses:

Seamless Experience for customers: Customers go to different restaurants i.e. Mexican, Chinese, Indian etc., and would not want to install separate apps for each of the different chains. Customers should be able to use the same app across multiple chains, which mean success for payment companies means forming alliances with key partners in restaurant industry.

Security: Restaurants have to be convinced that the application is secure i.e. their customers’ card details won’t be hacked. Brand name is a big asset for restaurants, and any dent would be difficult to eradicate. Any mobile company vying for restaurant business should get their app certified through an industry standard like PCI.

Existing Infrastructure: Most of the restaurants have already invested in some sort of POS terminals like VeriFone, or loyalty solutions such as Belly and Fivestar. Asking these restaurants to throw away the existing investment, and start from scratch would be a sure recipe to be shown the door.  Mobile payment app should integrate seamlessly with existing POS and loyalty systems. 

Customer Adoption: Once restaurants have embraced a particular payment technology, how should the customers be educated about it to drive the adoption? The restaurants and the mobile company both have stakes in making it successful, so it makes sense that it’s a joint marketing effort. Explainer videos and blog content can be used to explain the usage and the benefits.

Do you think there are other factors that should be tackled to help restaurants cross the Chasm?

Thinking of working with a Startup?

I have recently completed my tenure with a startup and thought it would be worthwhile to share my experience with those who are planning to work with a startup or already working with one.

So, here are top 5 questions to be considered before joining a startup:

1) What is the founder's vision for the company?

The founder should be able to clearly lay out the product's value proposition.  Google defined its vision as "organising the world's information", and that has allowed it to build or acquire the right technology. If the startup is not guided by an overarching vision, it may result in chaos when time comes to make product choices, especially the difficult ones.

2) What is the product roadmap?

Check how the product is currently being implemented, and whether it aligns with the vision of the company. If the founder's vision is to expose product as a platform, but the current development is a monolithic piece of code, there is a risk that decisions would be made that are short sighted.

3) What team is in place?

Examine who are the other team members, and what experience do they bring to the company. Does the company have right team to execute the vision. The team should be able to handle all the aspects as varying as technological and legal challenges.

4) Where does the team work from?

Does the startup has a space where all team can sit and work together. It might be a problem for early startup to lease office space, but then both Apple and Google started in a garage. It is very important that team meets and work together on a regular basis, else it would be very difficult to keep up the momentum.

5) Whether I would enjoy working here?

This is very difficult to determine just by talking to the founder and other team members. So, try to make an arrangement where you can work for a week and see whether you like working there. Take it as an opportunity to see whether you are good fit for the company, and vice versa.