Posted: 06/10/2014 06:45:14 PM MDT
Updated: 06/11/2014 05:02:48 AM MDT
Steve Schirner wasn't sure customers at the Chili's restaurant he manages would take to tablet computers that let them order drink refills and desserts from their tables.
Two months later, he says servers in his 16th Street Mall store are getting bigger tips, and customers seem happier and more willing to leave feedback. 'I'm a firm believer now.'
More than 800 Chili's restaurants - including 31 in metro Denver - have deployed tablets at each table that allow customers to place orders, play games, read the news and pay their checks.
They were installed by Dallas-based Ziosk LLC, marking one of the first widespread uses of such technology in the restaurant industry.
Ziosk CEO Austen Mulinder said 15 of the 50 largest casual dining chains are testing out Ziosk tablets, and tablets made by another company, E la Carte, are being installed this year at more than 1,800 Applebee's restaurants.
Chili's parent, Brinker International, finished rolling out the tablets in April, part of a remodeling campaign that aims to boost stagnant sales, CEO Wyman Roberts said. Same-store sales at Brinker-run Chili's restaurants rose 0.7 percent in its latest quarter, which ended in March, and traffic fell 1.2 percent, according to a regulatory filing.
About 70 percent of the 500,000 customers who visit a Chili's restaurant each day use the tablets to pay, a spokeswoman said. About 30 percent more customers now fill out satisfaction surveys. The company also expects an increase in the number of customers who sign up for its e-mail list.
'It's rewiring every restaurant,' Roberts told investors in April.
Ziosk has been focused on full-service restaurants, Mulinder said, with the initial goal of speeding up the process of paying for food - from a matter of minutes waiting for a server to a matter of seconds on a touchscreen.
The company designed its own tablets because they needed to have a long battery life, print receipts and be able to last for a few years while taking a beating of drops and spilled sodas.
NPD Group food-service analyst Warren Solochek said he expects tablets to become more common at full-service, casual restaurants like Chili's than at quick-service chains, such as Chipotle and Boston Market. Still, Solochek said he sees potential for tablets to help speed up ordering at fast-casual chains, especially those that focus on custom orders.
Mulinder said the tablets' application for fast-casual restaurants is 'less obvious,' because the technology is geared toward table service. Still, he said, Ziosk is about to start testing.
Representatives of Denver-based Chipotle and Golden-based Boston Market said this week the companies weren't interested.
Brinker didn't pay to install the 45,000 tablets in its Chili's stores. Instead, it pays Ziosk a subscription fee and the companies split revenue from games - 99 cents to unlock each. Ziosk also sells ads on the devices.
Mulinder declined to disclose the cost of the subscription.
Thad Moore: 303-954-1902, tsmoore@denverpost.com or http://ift.tt/1hGz58t http://ift.tt/1hgKyaM For tablet reviews of the best budget tablets
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