While many fast food restaurants and coffee shops such as Starbucks either current offer or plan to soon offer the ability to pay for food and beverages with mobile devices, casual and formal sit-down restaurants have yet to make the move to mobile.
But that’s changing.
As more consumers globally continue to rely on mobile technology in their daily lives, the restaurant industry is finally taking notice and adjusting their payment practices accordingly.
A recent study conducted by the Restaurant Innovation Summit and profiled by Mobile Commerce Daily found that 90% of 18 to 34-year-olds own a mobile device. A separate study conducted by the National Restaurant Association found that 1 out of 3 consumers over the age of 18 years would prefer to pay for their meals on their mobile devices.
Aside from the convenience for consumers, mobile payment options have many benefits for the restaurant as well. Consumers can pay when they are ready to leave, waiters and waitresses don’t have to do the back-and-forth between bringing the bill and processing the bill, and depending on how restaurants set up their bill pay options, mobile payments may also make it easier to split bills among multiple diners.
So… are you ready for the check via mobile at a 4- or 5-star restaurant?
