One in five refuse to dine somewhere if they can’t pay how they want

Adyen(ADYEN:AMS), the financial technology platform of choice for many of the world’s leading companies, today revealed that 22% of British consumers admit to leaving a restaurant or store without placing an order or making a purchase because they haven’t been able to pay how they want. More than half (54%) now expect to be able to pay for goods and services with digital wallets.

The food and beverage sector has been hit hard by the pandemic, staff shortages, and now the cost of living crisis. Adyen’s data suggests that businesses that invest in technology could improve the dining experience and streamline operations. Economic modelling by the Centre for Economic Business Research (Cebr) for Adyen found that accelerating digital transformation in restaurants, pubs, cafes could add 9.1% to the sector’s turnover over the next five years.

Accelerating Digital transformation could also add 14.3 percentage points to the sector’s growth rate over the next five years, and bring forward the sector’s recovery to pre-pandemic levels in 2023.

Close to two-thirds (63%) of those surveyed say they will not patronise an organisation again if they have a bad experience. One of the biggest frustrations diners face is checking availability or making bookings. Almost half (48%) of consumers think restaurants and bars need to create better online links to their physical locations to make booking tables and ordering easier. While two fifths (41%) said they wanted businesses to use technology to improve the guest experience, such as offering new ways to pay, or using kiosks to order more quickly.

Tech plans must be prioritised

Adyen’s research polled of F&B retailers, found a disconnect with investment plans. Just 10% of businesses were planning on using technology to improve the dining experience over the course of this year. Only 22% of businesses said they accept digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay as a form of payment and just 10% enable patrons to ‘self-checkout’ using kiosks or apps to pay at table.

One in four (24%) F&B businesses said they enabled patrons to complete transactions easily across online and offline channels. Those businesses who do allow people to complete transactions in this way record impressive improvements to their bottom line. Half reported improved efficiencies, one third (33%) recorded a higher average spend, and the same proportion recorded increased sales.

“From Michelin-starred restaurants, to leading quick service restaurants, the British pub or traditional ‘caff’, the food and beverage sector is a vital part of our country’s economy and culture. Businesses need to strike a delicate balance of modernising, while retaining the elements of the experience that make these institutions so special,” said Colin Neil, Managing Director of Adyen UK. “Consumer expectations evolved quickly during the pandemic. Whether it’s using new ways to pay, or self-ordering at a table using apps, they have become more accustomed to technology to enhance the dining experience. Embracing digital transformation will help these businesses to keep up with expectations, gain more insights into consumer behaviour, and strengthen operations to brace for challenges such as stuff shortages and the cost of living crisis.”

A case study: Leon

Since 2004, Leon has grown to include 70 restaurants across the UK and Europe. It’s rapidly expanding with 40 new restaurants in the UK, 10 in the Netherlands, and its first drive-through in West Yorkshire. The company is undertaking a digital transformation push, looking to streamline processes, improve the dining experience and better understand its guests. A big part of this digital transformation push was modernising the ordering process so that guests can order via an in-store kiosk or with their phone using the Leon app. This had the added benefit of providing rich customer insights to inform business decision making.

Hugo Engels, Digital Executive at Leon said: “We'd have hundreds of thousands of guests coming through our restaurants and no idea who they were. We had no way of tracking whether they'd ever been to Leon before and, if they had, how many times. When we open a new store, are we constantly attracting new guests? Or are we building a new base of regular customers? More than ever, having good data, insights on our customer habits and demographics is really crucial to the business. So we needed partners that could help us connect the dots.”

“We’ve partnered with Vito Mojo and Adyen to improve our digital offer, which includes large screen kiosks and a global app. Digital ordering has delivered significantly higher satisfaction, higher spend, and higher frequency of visits. Within a week, use of Adyen’s tokenisation, we were able to see whether guests had visited the restaurant before and, if so, how many times. On a business level, we can see what percentage of our guests are new, what percentage are returning, and what our order frequency is. Those are really crucial insights, especially in such a dynamically changing landscape like hospitality.”

About the research

Adyen commissioned Opinium LLP to poll 2,000 consumers and Censuswide to poll 500 businesses in the UK, and economic modelling by the Centre for Economic Business Research (Cebr).

About Adyen

Adyen (AMS: ADYEN) is the financial technology platform of choice for leading companies. By providing end-to-end payments capabilities, data-driven insights, and financial products in a single global solution, Adyen helps businesses achieve their ambitions faster. With offices around the world, Adyen works with the likes of Facebook, Uber, H&M, eBay, and Microsoft.

About Leon

LEON was founded in 2004 with the mission to make it easy for everybody to eat and live well, creating the category of Naturally Fast Food: food that tastes good, does you good, is affordable and is kind to the planet. The brand has always championed seasonal, Mediterranean-inspired and free-from food, and was the first to display nutritional symbols on their menus.

LEON has 70 restaurants throughout the UK, as well as in the Netherlands, Ireland and Gran Canaria. The brand has launched 13 cookbooks, including the recent release of Happy Guts and sold over 1 million books, along with cookware and tableware.