10 Ways Tech Is Making Fast Food Personal

The future of eating out lies in today’s experiments at Burger King, Domino’s, McDonald’s, Jamba Juice and the many other companies in the $707 billion quick-service and casual dining market. Restaurants want to use technology–theirs and yours–to create a highly intimate customer experience. Your personal device and the restaurant’s own systems for sensing, analyzing and transacting will exchange data, for your convenience and their profit. Fast food becomes not so much a destination, but a service that follows you from mealtime to mealtime.

For an in-depth analysis, readMobile and Personalization Technologies Drive Fast Food Chains to the Future. Meanwhile, here’s a taste of what’s in store. Bon appetit!

The rewards program at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers reflects how modern consumers blend online and offline lives. Members of the RedRoyalty program receive free food and discounted meals, as you may expect. But they also get Facebook credits through virtual currency from Plink, a rewards company. With the credits, customers can play Farmville and other games. “The demographic data on those games is startling,” says Chris Laping, CIO and senior vice president of business transformation. “Not young kids, but decision-makers of the house.” That’s just the kind of person Red Robin wants to visit the restaurant. “Facebook credits are an incredible motivator to get off the computer and go spend money at brick and mortar places,” he says.

Fans of the fresh, fast burrito that made Chipotle famous felt neglected until recently: Chipotle hadn’t updated its iPhone app since 2009. A new app, released in March, lets users order and pay for custom tacos and burritos, sure, but the app is more notable for what it doesn’t do. It doesn’t ask you to link friends, turn over your email address or sign up for instant mobile coupons. In other words, no clutter. The restaurant also accepts orders by fax. Quaint but efficient.