Restaurant Industry Uses for the iPad

The new iPad is all the rage these days.  In just its first two months over 2,000,000 units were sold.  Does the iPad have a future in the restaurant business?

Microsoft made a bet on tablet technology and saw great commercial application potential.  The fragility of the hardware/system and lack of software kept the early tablets from reaching their full potential.  Apple has effectively fixed the software issue by partnering with industry and developers to create “apps”.  There are more than 200,000 apps in the iTunes store and more are added daily.  The apps developer conference mints more new millionaires than any other conference (according to news reports).  It is widely agreed that now the tablet technology will lead the future of computer industry growth.  Consider – there are 1.5b Internet users on the planet yet there are 3.5b cell phone users.  Smart phones are the new handheld computer.  The limitations of size are part of what has lead to this new computer category which is essentially a hybrid of the power and functionality of a personal computer with the ease of use and portability of a smart phone.  The iPad is selling currently at a rate of 1m per month.  It took two years for the iPhone to reach the sales volumes the iPad posted in just two months. Impressive. The surface has only been scratched.

 

1. Microsoft Surface – We waited in anticipation for years for the launch of Microsoft Surface. The video/microsite launched prior to the first 3G iPhone. It looked like Microsoft would take the touch-screen technology adapted by Apple (first introduced at the T.E.D. conference in 2006 – amazing how far we have come in so little time.)

 

Apple has advanced the technology so fast that it has seemingly gained credit as having invented it (that credit belongs to Jeff Han).  The uses of Microsoft Surface technology had amazing potential in the restaurant industry.  So much so, in fact, that the pre-launch promotional videos seemed focused on restaurant use.  My firm was put on a waiting list to help bring the product to market in trials and pilots for the restaurant industry.  The call from Microsoft never came.  The technology raced past Microsoft.  Just this May (2010) I saw the first Microsoft Surface in use.  It was in The Sheraton lobby in Chicago and got barely any attention.  There were no noteworthy applications and the functionality included just a basic game of checkers, chess and kid-like drawing pad.  It was perfect illustration of how Microsoft has fallen behind and that if we are to see application of touch-screen technology in the restaurant industry anywhere similar to the fairytale portrayed in the Surface video, it will come from Apple and its legions of app developers.  It’s not the hardware that makes iPad successful, it’s the hundreds of thousands of applications.

 

2. Inventory – To think through the potential future uses of an iPad in the restaurant industry, we just have to envision the things we do on the go.  Inventory is certainly one of the potential range of restaurant industry uses.  Inventory in the old days was done with a clip board and then manually input in a central computer system.  In recent years we have seen bar code scanning tools and other hand-held devices created by industry or Point of Sale  (POS) companies, but these cannot compete with the iPad once inventory applications are developed for it.  An iPad can be purchased for just a few hundred dollars and custom app developers can create tailored software for as little as $2,000.  I believe we will certainly see the iPad put to work with restaurant inventory jobs using both subscription-based applications created by developers and also proprietary software developed by restaurant companies specific to their own needs.  Primarily the larger restaurant systems will be the ones to develop their own software but the development costs are actually within the range of small regional chains, not just the national restaurant systems.

 

3. Surveys – Gaining customer feedback in the field is another activity that is mostly mobile in nature.  Going to shopping malls, running exit interviews with customers leaving the restaurant, going table to table, and showing new creative/brand materials to solicit feedback are well-suited for the iPad.  It can be difficult these days to get customers to agree to written survey forms or lengthy in-person interviews.  The novelty of an iPad – at least for a window of time – will spur interest and curiosity which should result in higher yields of survey participation.

 

4. Training – Training in the restaurant industry has long been an issue in need of new approaches and more technology.  There was a movement with the iPhone and iPods to usher in a new generation of training deployment in the restaurant industry.  It didn’t really catch on.  Part of the reason was screen size and the associated restrictions.  With the iPad Area Developers can take their training on the road; meeting one-on-one with restaurant general managers to demonstrate a new approach, policy or quick instructional tutorial. GMs can be issued an iPad which automatically synchronizes with the corporate communication system; automatically downloading rich content such as performance dashboards, videos, slideshows and other company data.  Using the iPad as a distribution tool for such content can make the content easier to access and protect over the traditional out-dated restaurant P.C. in the back-office.  In fact, for a period of time before the novelty wears off, issuing GM’s an iPad also sends a brand message of the company commitment to technology, investment in its people and boosted sense of morale among their management ranks.

 

5. Kiosks – While the iPad is the latest rage and has a multitude of potential uses in the restaurant industry, it shouldn’t be the only techno-tool restaurant chains consider – particularly in the QSR segment of the industry.  The touch-screen technology and improved applications available in mobile form are also being adapted to kiosks.  In certain circumstances, a kiosk may be a better tool than an iPad, and so both should be considered.  For instance, it is unlikely the iPad will gain traction as a menu ordering system in QSR’s.  A kiosk would be better in ordering than a portable iPad.  Additionally, kiosks are great tools for providing menu information such as nutrition, serving as a portal for submitting applications electronically at the unit level, and also a wide range of other creative in-store marketing uses.

 

The iPad will very likely be the first generation of a new form of personal computer which will grow from novelty to category giant.  Many predict the iPad is the future of personal computing.  Whether they are entirely right or just partially right, what the iPad offers can be put to work in the restaurant industry immediately and its usefulness is only likely to grow.

 

Restaurant Consultant Aaron Allen