Chili’s backing up personal service with table-top tech

It’s a game night, and you wonder whether you should dine out with a match playing in the foreground, or just order-in. Most people choose dining out because of the experience. Almost all of us have a deep-seated expectation of being greeted and attended to throughout the meal. What if, there is no one to wait on you? You enter a restaurant, take your seat, a table top tablet greets you with the menu and you are required to order through the app. You could have as well just ordered food online, you might think!

But Tex-Mex restaurant chain Chili’s Grill and Bar is convinced that using table-top point of sale (POS) technology and mobile self-service restaurant technology is the way to go ahead. The Chili’s technology offers a lot of other functionalities than just ordering, such as loyalty points earning and redemption, mobile carryout ordering, easy check-splitting, re-ordering drinks, even the option to be on the waiting list, even when you are lazing around on your bed, wondering what to wear.

However, if we come to think of it, the role of a waiter is not just putting that plate of food on your table. It involves service, personal attention and courtesy, which technology cannot accomplish. It also poses problem when the order is complicated, or when a guest needs a dish to be customized. What if you are indecisive of what you really want? Would technology recommend what you could have? Forbes spoke to Chili’s vice president of digital innovation and customer engagement, Wade Allen, to understand his point of view.

Excerpts from the interview in Forbes:

How did Chili’s digital service came to be deployed, and what has the response been so far?

We deployed the table-top technology in September 2013, and we were the first ones to do something like that. The aim is to iron out pain points around paying the bill and re-ordering drinks. The response has been phenomenal, with 75 percent of our guests using it to pay bill. Guests are able to take control of their dining experience. The feedback process is also more organized. The insights from the feedback have been very good. We also launched a digital loyalty program—My Chili’s Rewards—in May 2015. Here the aim purely was to engage with the guests, and we now have 4.2 million members. If you want more numbers, around 18 percent of transactions in restaurant are accounted by the loyalty program members. We also introduced game-based features, to keep the guests engaged while they wait. We are building an updated version of the loyalty program and we have partnered with the Plenti rewards program. It will allow guests to earn points at partner locations and redeem for their Chili’s favorites.

Do you think using technology snatches away the human element?

Absolutely not! Personalized service is crucial to the restaurant service. We use technology only to remove some of redundancies of mundane tasks and of the server, and allow our guests to have a memorable dining experience. Technology allows our team members to focus on personal service even more. And the technology we place on the table is completely optional. The guests can choose to opt out if they wish. That’s why the 75 percent usage statistics is significant. We do not eliminate personal service.

What tips would you give to smaller players in the restaurant space on how they can implement technology?

The key is building the infrastructure. Technology changes rapidly. But once you have a solid infrastructure in place, which is conducive in hosting technology upgrades, then building on top of that framework becomes easy. This allows you to try new technology as an when they are developed and allows adapting quickly.