If you are running a stand-alone or chain of hotels or food
joints, you may often find it difficult to manage crowd during peak periods and
frustrated and hungry customers would leave your place with a vow of not coming
back again. You can’t increase the floor space further to meet the demand and
hence you have to settle down for moderate business growth.
But have you ever thought of taking your restaurants to
customers’ doorsteps? Yes, we are talking about the new trend which is sweeping
the restaurant industry in big way in western countries and slowly catching up
in India too, although in selected pockets.
Mobile food trucks
With food apps making a wild entry into Indian restaurant
space, having mobile food trucks parked at strategic locations in cities during
breakfast and lunch hours offering mouthwatering dishes to customers right away
can, not only bring more customers, but also improve your brand value to
manifold.
For small and medium restaurants who can’t have more space
to serve customers during peak hours, mobile food vans can be the option to get
their products right into the hands of customers at their own place. In the
fast-food or pop-up world it is wise that business owners take out their piping-hot
food items in mobile vans and park them at venues like popular coffee shops,
stores, exhibition centres, office areas, commercial hubs or market places for
a limited period of the day with the permission of civic authorities or owners
concerned and serve them hot to hungry customers.
Mobile food service can be a good way for food suppliers to
serve customers as connectivity and mobility are the key to improve customer
satisfaction and hence your retail food business.
POS devices at mobile
food trucks
With mobile technology enhancing customer services in every
sector, restaurants too use hand-held POS devices which are like a smart phone
to take orders from customers, send them to kitchen to prepare food and also
bill customers with multiple payment options - card, cash, food coupons, mobile
wallet or NFC enabled mobile devices.
As hand-held POS devices come with built in thermal receipt
printer and card-swiping slot, customers get fast and prompt service. If you are
not using hand-held android POS terminal, you can have a desk top computer or
tablet with suitable restaurant POS software supported by hardware components
like cash drawer, magnetic stripe reader and thermal POS receipt printer. If
you want to sell your packaged merchandise, you must need a barcode reader too.
Advantages of mobile food facility
Mobile localities offer flexibility for food entrepreneurs who
look to grow their brand and improve revenue without taking whole risks in
single venture. It will be authentic as neatly dressed up restaurant people or
owners themselves standing behind the clients, answering their queries,
building credibility and making the best possible customer-connect.
There are other advantages too. Since you are operating for
only limited hours, it will also enhance impulse purchase. You can offer your
menus at more affordable cost to customers as your operating cost will be
minimum while you can maintain your profit margin equal to your restaurant
located miles away. Even if you don’t have an established restaurant, such
mobile retail food venture will be a great way to test the viability of your
future venture or expansion of your business to new locality.
Pop-Up food stores can be a great idea for many owners to test
the waters before venturing into expansion or new business by making huge
investment in place and infrastructure.
Popular food joints can simply park
their mobile food vehicles near a crowded place such as sporting event,
exhibition ground, railway or bus stations and try to capitalize by offering the
best-in-class service to customers as similar to those having food in their
restaurants located miles away.
