Why Artificial Intelligence makes ordering easier

As customers’ tastes lean increasingly digital, brands can take action now to capitalize on ease of use.  That means not only making the ordering and reviewing process easier but enabling the process to intelligently adapt to the customer.

The solution: a smart order-and-delivery process, which can be facilitated through artificial intelligence (AI). Paytronix previously called this Artificial Intelligence to Individual Action, or AI to IA^SM.

Paytronix has integrated AI into all its products to make the customer experience easier and more intelligent. Using one of the largest datasets of consumer transactions in the industry, Paytronix has one of the strongest models with deeper insights that drive individual action through artificial intelligence, referred to as AI to IA^SM.  You can set out to create great guest experiences and run new campaigns, confident that decision engines are using insights and making recommendations that have worked for years.

Paytronix has published The Order & Delivery Report 2022, which details this trend and the data surrounding it. This blog and the ones that follow will highlight findings from that report, as well as sheds new light on recently acquired data.

Sentiment Analysis

For instance, what if your technology could bring a more in-depth understanding to your reviews? Consider the role that sentiment plays. The rating an establishment receives and the words that accompany that rating may actually tell two different stories.

Paytronix data shows that 15% of orders with a rating of 4.5 or better actually have a negative sentiment and could benefit from action, while 3-star reviews most frequently contain negative sentiment.

Sentiment analysis, which can be accomplished using AI, is one tool that can help. Sentiment analysis enables the store manager to identify negative reviews that otherwise would have been missed and act quickly to recover the situation. This is important because sentiment scores are nearly as accurate a predictor of whether a patron will return as the ratings themselves. And as the below examples show, high ratings can hide poor customer experience.

Intelligent Menu Design

Another exciting implication of AI is the potential to influence customer ordering choices through smart menu design and recommendations.

Some establishments have long or complex menus, causing customers to gloss over some options or potential add-on items. Understanding where to place options on the menu and when to suggest an additional item can make a big difference in the order total.

Multivariant menu testing can determine how to help customers make sense of large menus in a way that’s beneficial for restaurants and c-stores. Working with Paytronix, National Coney Island — well-known for their large, detailed menu with plenty of options for everyone — utilized multivariant menu testing to determine if AI to IASM could reduce customer frictions with the menu.

The results were eye-opening, delivering an additional 3.5% conversion rate and $300 monthly sales lift per store.

Intelligent Menu Recommendations

Another example of helpful AI to IA^SM is intelligent recommendations. Recommendations are not a new feature: “Would you like fries with that?” has been a staple for a long time. But adding intelligent recommendations to digital orders provides customers a superior ordering experience while increasing revenue.

Uno Pizzeria & Grill is running a trial of intelligent recommendations, and early results have been encouraging. Uno reported that guests were twice as likely to accept the AI’s recommendations over ones manually programmed by staff. This produced a 1-3% lift on average checks from intelligent recommendation orders in comparison to no-recommendation orders, increasing Uno’s orders by between $100 and $150 per store per month.

Wrapping Up

There is no denying the ongoing challenge to the hospitality industry. In the wake of a global pandemic that brought the loss of over 6 million people worldwide and wreaked economic havoc, restaurants and c-stores are now wrestling with supply chain and labor disruptions amid a customer experience revolution. The world has not stopped changing, and, to succeed, the hospitality industry must embrace our new circumstances.

What is clear is that the customer experience of the future will be different than it was in 2019, before the pandemic. C-stores and restaurants will need to use technology to cater to guests wherever they are and give those guests the flexibility to receive their food through different channels. Payment must be effortless, with preferred selections front and center. And the experience of the future will enable guests to be heard when things don’t go right. AI can do all of this while removing frictions from the experience. Indeed, the future of guest experience is bright.