4 Must-Have Millennial Tech Necessities

Millennials came of age enmeshed with tech in general and the internet in particular, and they aren’t about to leave it behind when they visit your restaurant.

There are four key technologies you should strongly consider making available—frankly, everyone wants them, but millennials in particular value them highly:

• Free Wi-Fi

• Online/Mobile Ordering

• Mobile Payment

• Customer Loyalty Program/Reward Points.

Technomic has an interesting study on how important these offerings are and the numbers are compelling.

There are lots of ways to add these to your business, some easier than others.

Free Wi-Fi is within anyone’s reach, but there are some important considerations to be aware of. First, your customer Wi-Fi must be segregated from anything in your operation that has anything to do with processing credit cards or your POS system. Depending on your set up, that may require a completely separate internet service, modem, router and repeaters. Make sure you have enough bandwidth (determines how many devices can connect) and decent speed. Test your Wi-Fi with a variety of devices throughout the area you mean to cover—dead spots are easy to address with range extenders if you know where they are. Don’t undermine the goodwill you’re trying to earn with a spotty, slow connection. I’ve used Zenreach at my last two companies and they really deliver. In addition to setting up a secure, capable network, they help you quickly build a customer database for marketing as visitors sign in to use the Wi-Fi.

Perhaps the hardest part of launching a customer loyalty program is picking one. Obviously, you have to do better than a punch card to reach a tech hungry audience. I was very impressed with what Thanx has put together. It seems effective and easy for the customer and the business. Their client list includes a number of cutting edge operators—always a good sign. There are no shortage of other solutions—just be sure the one you sign up with today will still be around next year.

Online ordering and mobile payment may present a bigger challenge, because the best solutions are integrated with your POS system. I spent some time with two different promising QSRs that used completely separate systems for mobile/web based ordering and in-store orders—meaning two order streams hitting the kitchen at the same time and loads of opportunity for confusion (imagine all the menu item abbreviations are the same?). Why not integrate? Of course, I they could, they would, but POS system developers aren’t big risk takers. Feature development seems to come from the upstart companies rather than the established manufacturers. If you are in the development process, it is easy to make fully integrated mobile ordering and payment factors in your decision-making, but if you have an existing system, it may be difficult to add. Start with you existing POS company and see how they can help.

Just remember, “the future is here to stay”. As more customers demand more tech from your business, rest assured that smart people will be working overtime to make it easier for you offer it.