Locate Restaurant and Order Food Apps are Growing in Popularity3 min read

According to a recent study, consumer interest in mobile applications such as locate restaurant and order food apps is growing. Smartphone and tablet computer users are taking greater advantage of the geo-location function (GPS) of their mobile device to find a restaurant – based on name or food type — in close proximity to their current location, as well as the order food app feature that lets them save their previous orders to a favorites list where it can readily be retrieved and resent, with or without modification, in the future.

In addition to the popular locate restaurant and order food app, other mobile applications, such as the reservation system apple, which lets the smartphone or tablet computer user seamlessly find table availability for their desired dining-window and book a reservation in real time and the restaurant delivery app, which lets them find out if their favorite local restaurant delivers or search for nearby restaurants by food type, to find those with delivery options and place their order, are also increasingly being embraced by more consumers.

These and a host of other mobile apps are changing the way restaurants and other food-service establishments do business. Several national chain restaurants, such as Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, and Chipotle Mexican Grill, have launched branded mobile apps for both Apple handheld devices (iPhone, iPad); others are still trying to catch up.

• Domino’s sold over $15 million of pizza within 8 months following the launch of its iPhone restaurant menus, which host its locate restaurant, order food app, and restaurant delivery app features. (See our previous blog posts, “Pizza Lovers Love iPhone Restaurant Menus. You Will, Too!”)

• Pizza Hut’s iPhone restaurant menus (which, likewise, host its locate restaurant, order food app, and restaurant delivery app features) have been downloaded by 3 million customers since their 2009 launch. (Don’t miss our previous blog post, “Want Pizza? Pizza Hut Has Three More Order Food Apps for That.”)

• Chipotle’s iPhone restaurant menu (which features its locate restaurant and order food app) makes it fast and easy for its busy customers to order and pay for their food in advance, so it’s ready for them when they arrive at the restaurant to pick up their bag.

In a joint report with Kristen Purcell, Associate Director for Research at the Pew Internet Project, and Nichole Henderson, Director of Consumer Insights for the Nielsen Telecom Group, for the Pew Research Center last fall, Roger Entner, Senior Vice President and Head of Research and Insights for Telecom Practice at Nielsen, said, “Every metric we capture shows a widening embrace of all kinds of apps by a widening population.”

Disclaimer: This is an independent report sourced from one or more news articles and or press releases; none of the company’s, entities or technologies digressed in this report are affiliated with or a client of Aptito.

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