• by Teresa Buyikian , October 26, 2023

While digital ordering may now be the norm, many customers aren’t totally sold on the idea of “robots” making, serving or delivering their restaurant meals.

According to a report by online food ordering SaaS Deliverect released this week, only 46% of customers are comfortable with drones delivering their food. As for robots handling food preparation itself or restaurants using actual robot servers, only 46% and 50% were comfortable, respectively.

Yet while customers were hesitant about the role robotics will play in their relationship with restaurants, they were bullish on other uses of technology. The report, commissioned by Deliverect and conducted by Censuswide, showed that people are increasingly relying on digital platforms to discover new restaurants, conduct research on offerings and build relationships with the brands, even post-COVID lockdown.

As for how customers are finding restaurants, 40% cited Google Search, while 38% used food delivery apps to find new places to eat. To gather further details on these newly discovered establishments, 82% of consumers go directly to the restaurant brand's website, 78% look at online restaurant reviews, 71% look at food delivery apps, and 64% tap into social media.

In terms of what customers are looking for when researching new restaurants online, a variety of menu options (90%), affordability (92%) and high standard of health and safety (89%) made the top of the list. Eighty-six percent of those surveyed also cited “treating employees well” as also something they look for in their restaurant choices.

After customers have selected a restaurant to order from, one in two prefer to order directly from the restaurant itself, rather than from a third-party delivery app. Forty-four percent said that ordering directly from the restaurant allows them to better personalize their order. Meanwhile, 25% preferred using third-party delivery apps, and one in six customers toggled between the two.

In terms of loyalty, consistently good food rated as the highest loyalty driver at 48%, followed by friendly and attentive staff (35%), fast delivery (26%) and reliable and accurate service and ordering (26%).