For restaurants everywhere, the pandemic meant that brands had to rethink their operations and pivot where necessary to survive. This meant embracing flexibility and ensuring that processes aligned with CDC guidelines. Unfortunately, for those restaurants unable to adapt, closing their doors quickly became a reality.

A leading Filipino fast food brand got competitive when it comes to app ratings. Understanding that app ratings drive discovery and downloads, the brand tasked Tillster with ensuring its app rating is the same as or higher than its largest competitor in the App Store and Google Play Store. Tillster, after just launching the brand’s mobile ordering and delivery app, understood the challenge here: high ratings for a brand-new mobile application can be hard to come by.

For the self-service kiosk industry, 2020 was a year of great innovation as businesses endeavored to provide users with tools that supported safe interactions. As mentioned in the 2021 Kiosk Marketplace Census Report, the restaurant industry was no stranger to the need for this self-service ordering technology with restaurant order-and-pay being the second-most commonly deployed kiosk in 2020.

Prior to 2020, the restaurant industry was slowly realizing the importance of digital ordering in creating an omnichannel brand ordering experience. But, as we all know, last year changed everything – and almost overnight.

A growing fast-casual chain on its journey to ramp up digital channels and improve its customer experience faced a new obstacle in 2020 – the coronavirus pandemic. The burger brand, already partnered with Tillster, tasked us with ensuring that their business not only survived the pandemic but grew coming out of COVID.

When the pandemic hit, everything changed. Restaurants that once relied entirely on in-person dining suddenly needed a curbside program. Bars that mainly leaned into alcohol sales started improving the food menu. And, the slow-to-adopt started sprinting towards launching digital programs. Consumers, meanwhile, defined new paths for their dollar. They became more community conscious, more supportive of the local restaurants and small businesses they love, and more likely to discover other new local establishments.

During the current coronavirus pandemic, restaurant brands have adopted new practices and processes to meet today’s customer's ever-changing needs. We expect some of these changes to be more long term than first predicted, especially as we are still unsure what “normal” post-pandemic will look like.

The COVID-19 pandemic placed the restaurant industry in a sustained state of pivot as guest preferences and city ordinances continue to evolve and change. Third-party app integration, in-house pickup and delivery, and new digital tools are just a few of the new processes that brands are deploying to maintain sales.

Last year, restaurant brands were finding new ways to stand out in the crowded marketplace by trolling one another on social media. But, this year, COVID-19 disrupted everything, and restaurants were forced to adapt, causing a shift in tone across the board.

Few industries have felt the kind of drastic shift than that of our economic model of food during the current global pandemic. One of the main reasons being that customer behavior and expectations have changed

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to evolve, so does the world around it, which continues to be true for QSRs. Tillster’s Chief Marketing Officer, Hope Neiman, shared a few ideas for restaurant brands continuing to navigate the COVID-19 crisis with QSR.

COVID-19 is impacting every industry and nearly all facets of everyday life, and many states and cities are implementing new social distancing guidelines for operations, including the restriction of dining-in at restaurants, and a shift to pick up and delivery models.  The memo to the quick-service restaurant industry in the U.S. is clear: your brand must ensure it has the right technology to support no-contact ordering now and for the foreseeable future.

Even in times of uncertainty, the restaurant industry can identify new ways to meet customer needs and expectations. As our CMO Hope Neiman shared with Forbes, “The greatest detail lies in knowing your customers, understanding their anxiety (as well as your own) and compassionately fulfilling their needs.”

It’s no surprise that as states across America issued stay-at-home orders, mobile phone usage increased. In fact, according to Comscore, March 2020 mobile phone data usage grew by more than 50 percent over 2019. Understanding this shift in consumer habits, Tillster’s CMO, Hope Neiman, penned an article for QSR outlining how restaurants can navigate these unprecedented times through a branded mobile app.