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Customer Experience in Food Beverages Industry

Customer Experience in Food and Beverages (F&B) Industry

Any strong and successful restaurant is built on excellent customer service. It's what sets you apart as unique from your competitors and motivates your clients to stick with you. The Food and Beverage industry is bustling with competition, just as it has always been. Whether it is with direct or indirect competitors, restaurants are constantly trying to level up and present themselves as the superior option. In an industry where customer expectations and meeting those expectations becomes the deciding factor of revenue Customer Experience and customer experience management plays a major part. The customer experience in the food and beverage industry is used to bridge the gap between customers and restaurants to provide them with an experience that is inclusive, educated and surprising not only by a visual appeal but also by an emotional appeal.

Impact of the Pandemic:

The rise in the number of on-the-go consumers and increased consumption of ready-to-eat food were the key drivers of the food and beverage industry's expansion before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The food and beverage industry's growth was also largely aided by the rising population and per capita income, as well as changing lifestyles in the current day. However, almost every location across the world has faced the shutdown of restaurants and other seating spaces which has majorly affected the food and beverage industry following the pandemic.

The industry has had to adapt, learn and unlearn multiple innovative techniques to stay relevant in such an environment. The incorporation of healthy food, curbside pick-ups, home deliveries and various cashless payment options have been made available to suit the needs of every customer. Although companies have incorporated new techniques and digitization to please customers there still seems to be a gap. The reason is simple: customers are now more informed and empowered than ever, making it increasingly important for the F&B industry to switch up its system to yield optimal results. They are looking at the minutest of details to make a choice and companies that are downplaying customer experience as a major deciding factor in retention are barely one click away from losing a customer.

Customer Experience in Food and Beverages (F&B) Industry

What are some of the general/recurring challenges in the food and beverage industry?

  • Quality of Food
  • Value for Money
  • Geographical Location
  • Interiors
  • Ambience
  • Space and Layout
  • Aesthetics: Light and Colors
  • Convenient Payment Methods
  • Customer Selection Behavior
  • Service Time
  • Ensuring Privacy

Customer Experience in Food and Beverages (F&B) Industry

How does Customer Experience help the F&B Industry?

The food and beverage industry market size has always been massive in terms of competition and consumers. Yet, it's no longer enough for businesses to simply provide fantastic cuisine to customers; they must also provide incredible customer experiences to remain relevant. The truth is that the concept of CX has altered the way foodservice businesses work, with digital channels offering a myriad of new ways for businesses to not only deliver products and services but also entertain and retain consumers. Brands that fail to tag along with ever-evolving business models and the newest consumer preferences and expectations through research, information sharing, and market trend updates risk losing customers drastically. Here are some ways that CX helps the F&B Industry to overcome the challenges they are facing:

  • There has been a substantial amount of explosion in the digital channels that have created an expanded number of touchpoints, which is changing the dynamics of interaction between businesses and their customers. CX adapts an omnichannel strategy that focuses on sparking new business models in the foodservice industry, such as food delivery apps and ghost restaurants, which modify and extend the customer experience journey.
  • Customer experience management helps you collect, analyze, and utilize data to better serve and understand your customer. Understanding your customer completely through the data you collect about them ensures that when that same customer walks in again they are known, remembered and heard.
  • It allows you to interact with your customers on multiple forums (omnichannel approach). CX strategies are meant to approach the customer on different channels with different stories. Marketing and Branding do rather little to fill the cup of digitally powered customers who are being approached by competitors from every angle with a variety of attractive propositions for their needs.
  • Customer Experience strategies create a personal connection with the customer. It creates an aura that is apt for the brand. It gives the brand a voice and personality that connects with the customer throughout their journey and makes them want to experience it again. Customers today enjoy transparency of views and want the brand to share the same ethics, morals and values as them. CX strategies not only help you rebuild what may need structure but also identifies a target audience that could become potential customers.
  • It also helps build on the aesthetic and customer service front of the company to retain customers and create a larger network because customers are more likely to spread the word about a unique or amicable experience to their circle.

Businesses have to swiftly move past age-old techniques to accommodate and respond to the rising consumer demands and produce products and services with customer experience in mind before they go extinct.

Sonata GBW is a global technology company specializing in customer experience CX measurement, platform-based digital transformation, supporting businesses to become connected, open, intelligent and scalable. It has presence across USA, Canada, EMEA and APAC regions. Our solutions utilize in-depth analysis of the food and beverage industry through customer experience metrics to collectively answer the question of how to improve customer experience in restaurant industry. If you would like to know more about how we can help you, please fill out the form.