Repeat Eats app for iPhone and iPad

According to RetailMeNot, one in four U.S. consumers have at least one restaurant app on their phone. Restaurant apps come in all kinds of sizes with features like order ahead, loyalty perks, favorite orders, digital coupons, mobile payments and more.

The unfortunate reality is that most restaurant chains have not yet risen to the expectations of their mobile customers. The concept of “food tech” is often an oxymoron. For example, 45 out of the top 100 restaurant brands lack a native app altogether. Sure, most have a mobile website or responsive site that displays their menu and locations — but customers expect richer, location-based and transactional engagement.

Even restaurants with native apps have room to improve, according to their own U.S. customers. ARC from Applause analyzed nearly one million app store reviews in the App Store and Google Play of the 100 most successful restaurant chains based on U.S. sales, as profiled in Nation’s Restaurant News Top 100 Report. A stark contrast became immediately apparent between the mobile leaders, such as Domino’s, Starbucks, Five Guys, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, and the laggards, too numerous to mention.

Starbucks’ mobile app accounted for 21% of its Q1 U.S. transactions. It’s top feature, Mobile Order & Pay, represents 10% of total transactions at high-volume Starbucks stores, directly contributing to increased sales (Mobile Strategies 360). Domino’s supports payment across 15 platforms, including Apple Watch, Amazon Echo and Samsung TV. More than half of U.S. sales are driven through digital (Business Insider). Taco Bell experiences 20% higher average orders on mobile than in-store purchases (Mobile Commerce Daily).

In building mobile apps, Mobi Click examines the best and worst apps on the market. We emulate what surveys reveal consumers like and stay away from practices that aggravate consumers. Let us help your business capture a share consumers who rely on the convenience of ordering on their mobile device.