Industry Trends

Google Expands into Restaurant Industry

3 min read

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e-Commerce has grown exponentially in the past months to become the new normal for retailers across the world. Not only is online shopping for grocery stores, pharmacies, and other non-traditionally online retailers skyrocketing. But e-commerce is also blasting off when it comes to the food service industry such as food delivery online.

One of the biggest, most recognizable brands, Google, partnered last October with Olo. Olo is a mobile and online food ordering platform that allows customers to order food from an electronic commerce setting.

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Through this partnership, any customer searching for food at a specific restaurant (and there are about 70,000 of them that use Olo’s platform) can now order directly from Google’s interface. Google has also added a delivery option within its Maps, Search and Assistant platforms through partnerships with delivery.com and ChowNow. [i] Google has evolved tremendously from its search engine roots, and will continue to do so post-Covid.

“Our investments in the restaurant space are allowing consumers to find what they need faster and even order delivery or carryout right from Google if the customer chooses,” Olohan said. “This is a massive advantage for hungry consumers and restaurant owners.” [i]

On top of Google’s extension into the restaurant industry, they have also introduced new features for Lens, including the ability to point your mobile camera at a restaurant’s menu and look at recommendations for the most popular meals at that particular restaurant. You also have the ability to split a bill or calculate a tip based on the receipt totals. [i]

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As we continue into this pandemic, it is important to note and understand that the era of consumers eating out in restaurants has not ended. As business owners get creative to push consumers to enter back into public settings in a safe manner. We will start to see a lot of new innovative ways social interactions will take place. 

Pre-pandemic, digital demand and online sales had never been higher. There were over one billion restaurant searches on Google every month. [i] These numbers look a little bit different now, but are all saying the same thing: consumers are still eager to consume. 

End-users are now searching for what restaurants are closed due to COVID, who does takeout, who does dine in and so on and so forth. When searching in Google restaurants users can see which restaurants are open and for what options. [ii]

There is one key takeaway from this exciting news: the restaurant industry will indeed make a comeback. Although the future has a lot more takeout in it, physical restaurants are just as important now as they were before. 

Pre-COVID, there were many innovative solutions to the demand for takeout orders such as turning physical stores into what we call “Ghost Kitchens”. Ghost kitchens are commercial facilities built to produce food specifically for delivery. [iii] Chinese restaurants have been making the most of this delivery style for years, so know this style is majorly successful in the restaurant industry. With that being said, as takeout orders rise steeply, there must be a way for restaurants to fulfill these orders. 

Rogers Electric has experience working with fast growing food companies in takeout restaurants, dine in restaurants, you name it. Our priority as the nation’s leading facility service provider is to take out the stress of multiple touchpoints when it comes to service work, and helping our clients succeed exponentially on all fronts nationwide. Head on over to the Rogers Electric projects page to read more of the type of work Rogers Electric does for multiple clients.

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