Article

Review: What operators can learn from Panera 2.0

Moving beyond free WiFi, Panera is rolling out mobile-based initiatives designed to make the customer experience more welcoming and to cement customer loyalty.

October 2, 2015

Panera has become a leader in the fast casual movement by offering a mix of good food and comfort, what the company calls “warmth and welcome,” and part of this welcome has been free WiFi in the company’s 1,926 bakery-cafes.

Today, Panera is in the middle of an 18-month innovation and service-based revamp called Panera 2.0, a multifaceted strategy to differentiate themselves from their fast casual competitors and improve the guest experience.

Key to Panera 2.0 is investing in new technologies and using the internet strongly in the customer experience. Moving beyond free WiFi, Panera is rolling out mobile-based initiatives designed to make the customer experience more welcoming and to cement customer loyalty.

MiSeat at Panera Internet Terminal Tables

MiSeat, being tested by Panera in one market, is a group of wireless charging terminals with keyless keyboards integrated into a glass countertop. Since Panera is one of the country’s largest providers of free WiFi, this is a great service for Panera to offer to customers. This is pretty new technology, even for tech-savvy users, so it’s important to post clear user instructions and to have help close at hand for customers who have questions. When I visited a test location in the Chicago area, both had nonoperational terminals, no posted instructions, and no help nearby. Fast casual restaurants planning to implement new technology always should have tech help on hand until the bugs are worked out. Providing technology that is unreliable or a bad user experience is worse than providing no technology at all because it raises our expectations and then leaves them unfulfilled.

Panera Consumer Mobile App (iOS & Android)

The Panera mobile app provides a convenient way for customers to place an order, view the menu and locate a cafe. The app is speedy and provides a good user experience. The style, typeface choices, and icons are on-brand and the copy is well-written. There is an opportunity on the home screen for signing up for the loyalty program and signing in.

The ordering and product screens are intuitive and provide good descriptions about each menu item, including ingredients, which is important to their customers. Since customers enjoy customizing sandwiches and salads in the cafes, they are given the option to do the same with the app. App bonuses include “Favorite Orders,” “Order History,” and “Profile.” The app integrates with Apple Pay, HealthKit, and TouchID.

A few small improvements could make this good app even better. They include:

• Ability to zoom: There is so much information and text in the app, so the type naturally is on the small side. Either making the type larger or giving the app the ability to zoom would help. This is a logical place to implement Apple’s 3D Touch. By applying consistently more pressure, the user could expose increasing amounts of information without leaving the screen.
• Shorten the sign up form: Sign-up forms should be as short as possible to optimize the user experience and increase sign ups. There are some boxes that don’t seem necessary.
• Customer satisfaction quick rating: Any interaction with mobile is a chance to capture and measure customer satisfaction. After food pick up, a text or email could be sent to the customer asking for a quick number or star-based rating.

Panera iPad Kiosks

Panera is testing kiosks that address one of its longest-standing customer pain points: the customer order line and mosh pit-style pickup area. The kiosk interface is similar to the mobile app, and it also integrates with the loyalty program with an email sign in. At the close of the order, the customer picks up a pager, scans it, and swipes a credit card for payment. The customer takes a seat, and the pager matches up with an RFID chip in the table, letting the food delivery associates know where to deliver the food.

Similar to MiSeat, the kiosk experience could be improved with the consistent presence of kiosk ambassadors to help direct and aid anyone in need of help with the technology. In addition, with loyalty program integration available with iOS 9, Panera should add Apple Pay integration to their kiosks, along with Apple Pay/loyalty program integration for both the consumer mobile app and kiosk.

The kiosk also offers Panera the ability to email or text customers a quick satisfaction survey following their meal.

Panera is on the right track with Panera 2.0, and fast casual restaurants can learn a lot from the company about how to develop a mobile strategy that meets the needs of the customer. We’d be interested in what internal apps they’ve implemented, as those would create efficiencies and support the customer experience and look forward to seeing improvements in Panera 2.1.

Will Scott is president of Lextech, a  strategic app development firm.