CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apex Order Pick-Up Technologies™ is eliminating the line to help QSRs and foodservice brands provide a fast, no-wait experience with its Flow-Thru™ Locker Solution. This automated, self-serve technology makes order pick-up as frictionless as the order and pay process. The problem-solving device is on display in booth 5870 at the 2018 National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show, in booth 5870, through May 22nd.
The unprecedented popularity of mobile order and pay apps and online ordering has increased the demand for in-store order pick-up. Research notes mobile order and pay programs are available at more than 50 percent of QSR locations across North America since Starbucks launched the first QSR mobile order and pay app less than five years ago. In fact, by 2020 order ahead will drive $38 billion at QSRs, according to Business Insider.
Demand for Convenience Creating Operational Issues
This explosive growth has created an array of line-related issues that are frustrating QSRs as much as their customers. Most QSRs have not updated their operations or employee workflow to handle the spike in orders.
As a result, order pick-up service is inefficient, requiring multiple employee touches. And order ahead customers are often unsure of how to pick up their order. This combines with dine-in customer traffic and results in congestion and line anxiety. Customers can have a negative experience and potential customers may avoid the store altogether upon noticing the line.
“Consumer technology is driving the most profound shift in customer behavior that restaurants and foodservice brands have ever seen,” says Kent Savage, Apex founder & CEO. “Our solution offers a fast, effective way to handle the additional traffic from order ahead programs in a way that doesn’t create more work for employees and eliminates customer frustrations.”
Using the Apex Flow-Thru Locker Solution, employees have more time to assist dine-in customers since they don’t have to interact with order ahead customers. The two-sided lockers load from the rear, ensuring workflows aren’t interrupted while providing a well-defined pick-up area for customers. An easy-to-use order bump bar and status monitor makes order processing fast and efficient.
Easy-to-Integrate Technology Leverages Existing Infrastructure
The Apex Flow-Thru Locker Solution integrates easily with a restaurant’s existing infrastructure – including point of sale (POS), kitchen display systems (KDS) and mobile apps. Lockers are available in standalone and modular, built-in configurations. This makes it easy, fast and affordable to rollout a chain-wide solution that is custom-fit to each location.
Apex devices are as easy to use as other self-serve technology, including ATMs, airport check-in and grocery check-out. As finished orders are placed in a locker compartment, a notification is automatically triggered to alert the customer and give them a custom code.
Upon arrival, customers skip the line and go to the Apex Flow-Thru Locker Solution to input their code. Their secure compartment lights up and opens automatically. After grabbing their order, the customer closes the locker door and can leave without waiting in line. This fast and simple process takes less than 10 seconds—no lines, no waiting, and no hassles for customers or QSR staff.
All of this activity is tracked in real-time by the Apex Trajectory Cloud™. This cloud-based platform makes it simple to view mobile order information, including dwell time, compartment availability and more. Trajectory Cloud can automatically send reports to management and is easily accessed at any time through a secure online portal or mobile app.
Discover how Flow-Thru Locker Solutions from Apex help restaurant and foodservice brands takeout the line during the NRA Show at booth 5870 or online. And to follow our #FiredUp coverage of the NRA Show, look for #NRAShow across our LinkedIn and Twitter feeds.
Apex Order Pick-Up Technologies is the world’s leading provider of self-serve automation for use in retail, restaurants and the foodservice industries. Our flow-thru lockers takeout the line to help our customers provide a fast, no-wait experience. With world headquarters in Mason, Ohio, Apex has offices in Australia, Germany, Poland, the UK and Latin America. To learn more about Apex, visit us online at https://www.apexsupplychain.com/Foodservice.