Building Block Associates

  • Home
  • Products & Solutions
    • View Supplies
    • What's In Season
    • Manage Mie Foodservice Manager
    • Foodservice Webinars
    • Become A Member
  • Online Store
  • Social Chat Blog
    • Foodservices News
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Home
  • Products & Solutions
    • View Supplies
    • What's In Season
    • Manage Mie Foodservice Manager
    • Foodservice Webinars
    • Become A Member
  • Online Store
  • Social Chat Blog
    • Foodservices News
  • Contact Us
  • Careers

Parent Company of Tim Hortons and Burger King, Launching New Payment App

1/23/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
This August 2014 file photo shows a Burger King sign and a Tim Hortons sign in Ottawa. The parent company of the restaurant chains has announced it will release a new app this spring that will allow customers to order and pay without lining up at a cashier. Image: Sean Kilpatrick, The Canadian Press
TORONTO -- The parent company of Tim Hortons and Burger King plans to launch an app Canada-wide this spring that would allow customers to order and pay in advance on their smartphone without lining up to pay a cashier.

Also read, Just Eat could spend up to $383 million to acquire U.K.’s Hungryhouse and Canada’s SkipTheDishes.

The move by Restaurant Brands International follows a similar one by Starbucks and is the latest push toward more automation in the food service industry.

In the fall of 2015, RBI acquired Brewster App and tasked the startup’s dozen staff to develop the app.

“The first feature we’re going to be introducing is ... the ability for a customer to have Tim Hortons (and Burger King) in their pocket,” said Steve Greenwood, RBI’s head of digital.

Since late December, the app has undergone testing in 25 Tim Hortons cafes in Ontario and 25 Burger King restaurants in Miami. The expansion would see the app rolled out to the roughly 4,000 Tim Hortons and Burger King locations across Canada.

In October 2015, Starbucks Canada launched a similar app at 300 stores in the Toronto area. The service is now available at various locations in the country, excluding Quebec and New Brunswick, according to the company’s website. The technology is not yet available for users of its French-language app.

Automated customer service is part of a general trend as people become increasingly accustomed to going online to access services, such as making reservations or pre-selecting movie theatre seats, said David Hardisty, an assistant professor at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Mobile order-and-pay applications make shopping faster and more convenient by allowing customers to bypass lines — and for those immersed in their own world, possibly avoid unwanted human interaction, Hardisty said.

The push toward greater automation could result in cashiers being laid off or put into different roles, but Hardisty said he doesn’t expect such jobs to be eliminated outright.

“Mostly everybody just uses ATMs and automated stuff all the time, but they still have tellers there,” he said. “Stuff comes up that’s just really hard for a completely automated system to handle.”

In 2015, self-service kiosks started showing up at McDonald’s restaurants in Canada. Many grocery stores and other retailers also offer self-serve checkouts.

For RBI, the app could pave the way for other developments, like self-service kiosks, Greenwood said.

The company already operates self-service kiosks in Burger King restaurants in several international markets and they’re being tested in the U.S., Shannon Hall, an RBI spokeswoman, said in an email.

Hall said individual franchisees make staffing decisions, but the goal of the app is to drive sales, which should result in more employment opportunities.

Apps also provide companies with an opportunity to build data on consumer habits and offer promotions and loyalty point programs to customers, Hardisy said.

“Once you, you’re drawn in for one thing, you also get involved in other things.”

SOURCE Aleksandra Sagan, The Canadian Press
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Go to blog
    Advertisement

    RSS Feed

    News & Updates

    Stay informed with the latest news around foodservice, agriculture and other related food news.

    Do you Enjoy our E-news & Updates?
    Get our foodservice E-news, blogs and LTO's sent to your inbox, SUBSCRIBE HERE.

    Advertisement Opportunities 
    To get your foodservice business in our daily e-news, here.

    Archives

    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015

    Categories

    All
    Agriculture And Food Safety
    All Day Breakfast Menu
    Beans Benefits
    Beverage Company
    Building Construction
    Candy Company
    Carbonated Drinks
    Chicken Farm
    Dairy Production
    Fast Food
    Fast Food Chains
    Food Prices
    Generation Z
    Genetically Modified Organisms
    Gluten Free
    Grocery Retailer
    Healthy Meals For Kids
    Imported Foods
    Imported Foods From Other Countries
    Liquor Licence
    Milk Industry
    Milliennials
    National Food Holidays
    Nut Allergies
    Organic & Natural
    Processed Foods
    Produce Industry
    Restaurant
    Restaurant Management
    Restaurant Ordering System
    Restaurateurs
    Seafood
    Sustainable Resources
    Sweet Snacks
    Sweet Tasting Desserts
    Tree Nuts
    Value Menu Offering
    Ways To Reduce Food Waste

    Picture
    Advertisement
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.