Restaurant And Hospitality IT News For VARs — March 4, 2014

By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA

Loyalty To Drive Mobile Payment Adoption
Loyalty could be key to driving mobile payment adoption, a new white paper by Euromonitor International says. Euromonitor expects 80 percent of all mobile phones sold in the U.S. will be smartphones in 2014. If this is the case, it will become more feasible for companies to offer m-payments platforms. Euromonitor believes focusing on integrated loyalty offerings (e.g geo-location discounts, coupons, etc.) will increase the number of consumers adopting mobile payments for in-store purchases.

Social Media Becomes Key Generator Of E-Commerce
Mobstac has put together an infographic about the importance of social media in e-commerce.  Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest were responsible for generating 75 percent of social generated e-commerce sales. Social traffic to e-commerce sites caused revenue to increase by 17.8 percent from January to June 2013. It’s expected that U.S. consumers will spend $327 billion online in 2016.

Mobile Advertisements Influence Consumers’ Restaurant Choice
A new report from JiWire shows that mobile phones are consumers’ primary method of selecting a restaurant, a menu item, or reading reviews. Therefore, mobile advertising played a key role in drawing people to restaurants. The results show that mobile ad campaigns caused a 35 percent increase in visits to QSR and casual, fine dining establishments. In general, mobile ads providing menu information, special offers, and location were found to be the most influential in drawing consumers to a restaurant.

Mobile Payment Adoption A Reality For 2014?
Mastercard and PRIME Research have released the second annual global MasterCard Mobile Payments Study. The results of the study show that sentiments towards mobile payments are improving and that there has been more growth in consumer use and merchant acceptance. According to the findings, 2013 was the year that mobile payments moved from “concept to adoption.” More consumers and merchants have adopted the mindset of “which mobile payment option should be used,” as opposed to “why use mobile payments?” Eighty-six percent of consumers and merchants are supportive of mobile payments. While consumer sentiment towards the transaction experience improved in 2013, experience is still a common frustration point for users.

Restaurant And Hospitality Talking points
Branded mobile apps and social media are playing a more significant role in marketing these days, especially in the hospitality industry Street Fight says. The case study focuses on Wind Creek Hospitality, exploring how it has structured its digital strategy around apps, social media, and push notifications. While email marketing has been an important strategy to reach customers in the past, low email open rates and click-through rates are causing marketers to explore more ways to reach consumers.