With the NFC-Powered Connected Restaurant Solution, CustomerIn Systems and UPM RFID are Poised to Transform Restaurant Dining

A new NFC-enabled solution from CustomerIn Systems and UPM RFID has the potential to reinvent the restaurant dining experience at a time when industry profitability is under siege. The tool, called the Connected Restaurant, uses NFC technology to strengthen service, providing restaurateurs with a powerful tool for cross-selling items, enhancing the dining experience and accelerating table turnover.

U.S. consumers are eating out more frequently, but spending less on each visit, finds business advisory firm AlixPartners: In 2010, diners said they planned to spend only $11.60 per meal, a 21% decrease from their pre-recession spending of $14.70. This combination of more frequent visits and lower spending stresses both restaurant operations and margins.

The Connected Restaurant application addresses both of those business challenges by putting customers in the driver’s seat for managing their restaurant experience. When diners enter the restaurant, they tap their NFC-enabled phones against an NFC-tagged poster at the front desk, which prompts them to download the Connected Restaurant application.

Customers then can use the tool to check in, request a specific table, browse specials, read other diners’ menu reviews and order appetizers and drinks. Diners receive a text message when their table is ready. As they peruse menus at their tables, customers can tap their phones against tagged menus or table tents to receive detailed information about entrees, such as ingredients, calorie counts and sodium levels.

Finally, they can use phones to summon waiters, monitor their orders, request checks and review and pay for bills. In the near future, the Connected Restaurant application will also integrate with restaurant reservation and billing systems, providing restaurant owners with a turn-key self-service solution that enables staff to handle more customers.

CustomerIn Systems’ Connected Restaurant application is comprised of NFC-enabled phones, a mobile customer service application, UPM RaceTrack and UPM BullsEye NFC tags by UPM RFID, NFC-enabled marketing items, Wi-Fi, a web-accessible manager’s dashboard and a cloud server. The company is currently seeking a restaurant to pilot the new solution.

In addition, CustomerIn Systems and UPM RFID are teaming on SimpleNFC.com, a website that provides developers with all the tools they need – application software, NFC RFID tags and starter kits of software and tags – to build mobile NFC solutions for different industries. The site is slated to launch in July 2011.