What is the customer journey? It's comprised of the steps your guests take before, during and after they walk into your restaurant, yes, but it's much more involved than that. It includes thought and research on different persona's that come into your restaurant and their desired outcomes. It includes a meticulous map of every single touchpoint a customer experiences and who or what is delivering the service at that touchpoint. It's about their emotional journey as well - how they feel at each step of the process. And of course, it ends with ways to improve and innovate.
And that, is where your mobile app concept can really stand out. If you are experiencing a significant drop in your app retention, taking a look at how your app could improve the customer journey is a great place to start. The illustration below, although simple, describes how this works.
This example uses third parties that integrate with the restaurant's mobile app to improve each step.
Restaurant Mobile App Takeaways:
1. Identify the Customer Journey: Take time to map this out in detail. Include the current touch points and who/what is interacting with your customers at each one.
2. Identify the places where engagement is low: This could be as simple as realizing that there is a gap in communication with your customers during certain parts of their journey (while they wait for their food or bill, while they wait for their table, etc.). You could also think about it in regards to the way a customer feels during each step and if there are negative emotions around certain areas. That's where you have the opportunity to improve things.
3. Ask yourself if your restaurant mobile app can help solve these engagement issues: If it already does, maybe there needs to be additional marketing at those specific steps to advertise this. If it does not, what can your company add yourselves or by using a third-party.
Want to learn more about this process? Check out how one successful chain launched their mobile app using some of these strategies.