What if… The Hard Rock Cafe joined the chatbot revolution?

Some of our team members are big fans of the legendary Hard Rock Café restaurant chain, and it is often used as an example in our conversations, especially when talking about business opportunities and new things that could be done with chatbots and AI.

Today we have decided to share some of these ideas and highlight the opportunities that chatbots and artificial intelligence make available to restaurants like the Hard Rock Café. We will look at two areas: the on-site experience and off-site interactions with the brand and restaurants.

Chatbots inside the restaurant

On-site, the ability of chatbots to interact with a large number of users at the same time, becomes an invaluable asset for restaurants that are dealing with surges in client numbers. Many restaurants are already using bots to offer menus and ordering through WhatsApp but with the right programming, they can go well beyond that.

They could, for example, provide food recommendations based on past orders from the same client or be used to request refills without having to hail a busy waiter every time. In addition, if they are connected to a central CRM system they would allow the chain to track a customer through different locations, providing valuable data, improving customer experience, and potentially increasing sales.

For restaurants that have a specific theme like the Hard Rock Café, the chatbot can be integrated further with the restaurant experience by answering questions about the music that is playing or the various memorabilia that is often displayed on the wall. The experience could also be expanded outside the restaurant by allowing the chatbot to answer questions on other music-related locations in the city and thus deepening the relationship between customer and brand.

Chatbots beyond the restaurant

Off-site, the chatbot or AI could also play a significant role in helping to manage bookings and takeaway or delivery orders. The interaction with menus and recommendations would be much the same as in the restaurant but, in this context, things like payments and delivery notifications or instructions could be also integrated.

This type of integration, as well as providing better customer experience and cross-venue data, will also reduce friction. As noted in previous posts friction plays a key role in influencing customer choices and moving interactions to platforms that the user is already using (like WhatsApp), could deliver enormous benefits for businesses.

However, to achieve these results it is important to do things right, creating customized solutions that will fit your organization like a glove, and avoiding the classic “out of the box” or “do it yourself” approach.

If you would like to learn how your organization could benefit from these technologies and identify some new opportunities, our team of experts will be happy to help. You can reach out to them by using the link below.