Customer Experience in the Restaurant Industry: Reflections …

The restaurant experience was once solely comprised of human-to-human, in-person experiences. Fast food and food delivery gradually began changing that equation. Then, in 2020, we saw the restaurant industry go through a major digital upheaval, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, with the introduction of ChatGPT, we saw restaurants – and just about everyother industry – look for ways to incorporate artificial intelligence within their customer operations. 2024 was a year of experimentation with AI, with restaurants testing it on customer-facing interactions, like AI drive-thru ordering, with varying degrees of success. 

In 2025, I believe we’ll see the smart restaurant brands get very focused on how they leverage AI to improve the customer experience. Here are two places where I predict AI will have a majori mpact in the restaurant industry in the new year.

AI Will Mitigate Restaurant Hiring Challenges

While customer-facing AI will capture headlines both for its successes and foibles, restaurants in 2025 would do well to start using AI to automate noncustomer interactions and processes. 

A good example of this type of AI automation is a project we recently completed with a national coffee brand. The 700+-store chain had a challenge with the amount of time it took to schedule an interview for a new applicant once the candidate had submitted their application online. 

Due to the manual review process and human intervention required, the process could take days before an interview was scheduled with a hiring manager. Speeding up this process was key, especially in such a high turnover industry. The goal was to get this process down to one hour, or less.

By integrating an SMS bot for text messages and automating the application process with AI, the process dropped from multiple days to less than 10 minutes – well surpassing the one-hour goal.After that, the coffee chain saw the time between interview and accepted offer go down to an average of three days. 

While AI won’t solve every problem, including hiring, it can go a long way in streamlining the process, which will have a direct and positive impact on customer experience. 

AI Will Improve Customer Loyalty

I don’t know believe there is any other industry in which customer loyalty is more important than it is in the restaurant industry – especially now. Restaurants succeed or fail based on loyalty, which is a direct result of customer experience. In 2024, food prices have been high and consumer spending has been stretched thin, making it even more difficult for restaurants to attract new customers. With these headwinds, restaurants must focus on expanding share of wallet with current customers and increasing their loyalty. 

One answer to the brand loyalty challenge is to improve personalization. In 2025, I think we’ll see restaurants double down on personalization by leveraging AI.

Restaurants can use AI to analyze customer preferences, dietary restrictions, and past orders to create tailored dining experiences. An AI-driven recommendation system can even suggest menu items based on individual tastes and nutritional needs, while chatbots can provide personalized customer service, answering queries and taking orders efficiently. 

Unifying and acting on digital customer data can also shape a more personalized customer experience. In fact, we’ve seen Chipotle do just that. Chipotle knew that data was the means to building a more holistic view of their customers, which in turn would help them deploy more targeted loyalty tactics.

By automating customer data collection from a wide range of sources and shaping that data into unified – and actionable – customer profiles, Chipotle improved customer loyalty in the following ways:

•  Communications tailored to individual consumer’s preferences, including suggestingproducts and add-on purchases, providing coupon code offers and loyalty program promotions
• Refined messages, journeys, and overall experiences across all engagement channels through deeper understanding of customer behaviors 
• Improved protection of customer information through elimination of external data transfers

This work resulted in a projected $280 million in annual sales revenue growth, a result of activating as much as 34 percent in newly uncovered customers and cross-sales opportunities.

Advice for 2025

Like so many other businesses, restaurants in 2024 have been challenged to do more with less. AI and automation can help them do just that, but as restaurants examine where AI can increase efficiencies and improve loyalties, they’ll need to take a thoughtful and measured approach. Start by looking at internal and operational processes before rolling AI into customer-facing interactions. AI-driven transformations in several operational areas all add up to a more positive customer experience and bottom- line outcomes.