Millennials make up nearly a quarter of the total U.S. population. As a result, this demographic is shaping the food and beverage experience with technology-driven trends. To start, they dine out more frequently and when they do, they spend more money than their predecessors. Appealing to this group’s expectations and preferences, F&B operators are adapting their environments to align with the most common trends driven by this population. Often, this means employing technology that supports the new expectations.

Quicker Check-out

Having been raised with and around technology, younger populations expect it to touch every aspect of their lives, including at the point of transaction. Making the payment experience more convenient is key to attracting these shoppers. Operators are doing so by improving the check-out experience through self-serve kiosks, and advanced digital payment technologies with a simple scan and go. Guests are always looking for self-service and convenience. A survey recently found that more than 8 in 10 millennials are interested in scanning products in-store and then paying via a mobile app.

Item Customization

As avid diners with myriad options, millennials prefer to customize their meals. In fact, 44 percent say that being able to customize their meal is an important attribute when choosing where to dine. This goes beyond selecting what ingredients to add or omit. This generation also prefers to choose their portion sizes. For operators, this means deploying POS solutions that have strong menu and item configuration capabilities, and a solution that is also intuitive for staff and guests.

Reward Programs

Reward programs can propel guest engagement with your F&B operation and get people in the door. Not to mention, they make guests feel valued. Moreover, loyalty programs tend to increase guest check averages and boost guest satisfaction levels. For this reason, it’s important that operators to partner with technology that can facilitate a unique loyalty solution that rewards guests for food and beverage purchases.

The F&B landscape is changing due to the shift in guest demographics and expectations. With technology constantly adding a new degree of convenience in every aspect of our daily lives, operators should strive to keep pace by mirroring this at their F&B venues.

F&B Technology