Blog

More than two years ago, in April 2014, Panera announced their Panera 2.0 program. It contained a series of technological initiatives designed to allow customers to interact with Panera in new and innovative ways, including advance ordering and pick up, fast-lane kiosks to order in while dining, ordering from your table within the restaurant, and the ability to save customized orders within the restaurant. While this was slated to roll out in all stores by the end of 2017, Panera is already seeing rising stock value¹ from the initiatives in the last few months. We believe that these new developments really show that Panera is forging a new path for the customer experience in restaurants. To confirm that, we decided to take a look at some of these initiatives from a customer’s perspective, with a quick field trip to the Panera location near our Miami office.

To-go ordering has been around since the first caveman hollered to his neighbor that he was coming over to eat, but things have gotten more complicated in the last 50,000 years. Instead of asking for the flank or rib-eye of the woolly mammoth, now we’re thinking about geolocation, Apple Pay, and an awesome UI. Read on to hear about the top 5 usability mistakes in to-go ordering sites, and how to avoid making them in your app.

Last Minute Deals

Industry leaders are tapping into Millennials impulsivity and desire for savings by offering prices that are only good for the last 48 hours before building. Booking.com now has an Apple Watch app that offers up hotel rooms based on your location, but only for the next 48 hours. With one touch you can book the room, and they offer reduced pricing for the last minute booking.

I received my Apple Watch this past Thursday. I chose the space grey Apple Watch sport with the black band, which was worth the wait. It’s fairly subtle, with one person (okay, a kid!) thinking it could be a real watch. Overall, I am impressed with its performance, especially for a v1 device with limited connectivity options. Powered by my iPhone 6, even on LTE instead of wireless, there is very little lag in most apps. However, the remote app has some issues connecting to iTunes libraries. It’s fantastic as a remote for the Apple TV, but very limited and challenging to sync with my computer’s iTunes library. Here is a day in the life with an Apple Watch.