This week we have focused on when to invest in technology and whether to create a new playing field or just keep up with the competition. Restaurants are creating a new playing field. Several high-end restaurants have invested in iPads to help customers order wine. Instead of receiving recommendations from a waiter (who is likely biased for several reasons (1) he wants you to spend a lot of money and (2) the restaurant may have 200 extra bottles of a certain wine they are trying to quickly sell), the customer can now read about the vineyard and rankings prior to ordering their drink of the night.While there was some hesitancy in whether this would be a successful investment, it has paid off so far. One customer purchased a wine which cost 25% more than his normal purchase simply because he was able to read about the rankings. He also tried a new wine in which he had never heard of before and liked it.
This is an interesting concept. I drink a lot of wine, and my family makes wine in France. However, I am no expert when it comes to choosing a wine at a restaurant. Usually, I pick one with a cool label or name. However, if I had an iPad full of information regarding the wine, I could make a wiser choice and likely get a better wine for my buck. To top it off, I would be learning about wine and different vineyards around the world.
I think this is a definite shift in the playing field for high-end restaurants. Even though I only eat at nice places for extra special occasions, I would definitely love to order my wine via iPad.
Holly,
ReplyDeleteThis is really cool. I'm glad restaurants have added something "new" to the menu. When I pick wines, I normally start with something cheap and then look for a name that I somewhat recognize.
This opens up many more opportunities for restaurants and also brings them more downstream, closer to the consumer. It tailors to the consumer likes and dislikes and helps to build a better relationship. I know I would definitely want to visit a place like that.
Maybe they could use this to remember orders too!
This is a very interesting concept. I am immediately interested in going to a restaurant that has this type of selection offering. Although I have not been to a variety of wine bars around Baton Rouge or New Orleans, I have studied abroad in France and took a course on the Law of Wine along with a wine-tasting class. This jumps out at me (and I'm sure others as well) as a way to differentiate your products (or services that assist in the customer acquiring a product) from other similar restaurants/wine bars around town.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading an article on dying technologies, this reminds me of other related services that are dying, and the "waiter suggesting wines" could be on this list.
Since we are discussing outsourcing at this time in the course, this would be an example of an instance where I believe investing in and implementing (physically as well as training the wait staff) new technology in these actual restaurants is a good idea. Even if serving/selling wine isn't the restaurant's core competency, a place like The Bulldog (bar) typically has enough customers to make this investment worthwhile.
This seems like to good of an innovation for all wine bars and higher end restaurants NOT to have in place within the next 5 - 10 years, and it would be a great idea for companies to invest in this new technology. As Holly mentioned above, it certainly (at least to the typical consumer) to remove the waiter's/restaurant's biases and agendas from the process, and allows customers to be more proactive in their selection.
It also adds an incentive for guys to take their dates to a place like this - at least it will make you look cool, if only for five minutes!
---Spencer Schoonenberg