Mobile Ordering Making Its Impact On Fast Food

Nevin Barich

LOS ANGELES , January 16, 2018 (Off The Menu) – Recently I picked up my cell phone and called a local pizzeria to order a couple of thick-crust slices and an order of mozzarella sticks. When I went to place the order, however, the man on the other end wouldn’t take my order.

“Just use our mobile app,” he said. “We don’t take calls for food orders anymore.”

I was a bit surprised there was a mobile app option for this place, because it was a local eatery, not a major chain. But sure enough, I went to my iPhone App store and there it was.

This was a reminder to me that mobile payments for fast food, no matter what the size of the chain, is on the rise. According to Glenn Fodor, executive for Atlanta-based global payment technology solutions company First Data, mobile payments grew an estimated 75% in the fast-food industry in 2017, and in a few years they could reach 10% of all orders.

“What made 2017 so impressive was that it felt more like a tipping point as mobile payments options raced across the fast food industry," Fodor added.

New figures from PYMNTS.com support Fodor’s claim. According to the website, advance mobile ordering at quick service restaurants could be a $38 billion segment by 2020. Also, 63% of American smartphone owners — and 94% of Millennials — have used their phones to place fast food orders.

I’m sure that if you choose to do what I did and call your local pizzeria to place a food order, most of them will take it. But it’s clear that placing such orders with a phone call is becoming a thing of the past. Eventually, big or small, every such eatery is will offer a mobile ordering option and they’ll encourage (or force you) to use that option.

Nevin Barich is the Food and Beverage Analyst for Industry Intelligence and is also Menuism’s fast food expert. Email him at Nevin.Barich@industryintel.com or follow him on Twitter.

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