For quite some time now, restaurants have been using online technologies to improve the guest experience. The entire hospitality industry has shifted to more online interactions with guests. For instance, the Instagram activities, but also pre- and post-visits, as consumers’ social mentions, reviews and actions have come online.
The COVID-19 impact is that digital transformation simply accelerated what had already been happening. During the lockdown, restaurant owners only had their digital front door open to keep servicing their customer base. Communications moved online in a matter of days. Guests searched online to know which restaurants may be open, which ones are offering delivery or take-away services. According to Google trends, the search term ‘Delivery’ related to food categories reached an all-time-high!
The pandemic has also accelerated the sector’s digital transformation, because they now have to rely on technology to increase the speed and efficiency of their processes, and provide an even more customer-centric experience. Hospitality businesses are not only becoming technology platforms to encourage customer loyalty and communications, but also to autotomize processes to maintain data accuracy in their online environments a consumer may visit. No doubt this booming digital dependence will also influence other sectors, including professional textile services.