SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVING CUSTOMER WAIT TIME, CUSTOMER SERVICE AND MARKETING EFFICIENCY IN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY

• US 20120016745A1
• Filed: 04/15/2011
• Published: 01/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bradley Marshall Hendrickson
• Original Assignee: Bradley Marshall Hendrickson
• Inventors: Hendrickson, Bradley Marshall
• Granted Patent: US 9,390,424 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.53
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

A system and method including an Internet preordering system accessible online or onsite at a free-standing kiosk located in or near client properties in which customers may create profiles for the requested services and provide such information to the service provider in advance of the customer'"'"'s arrival for the requested services. When the customer arrives, the customer identifies himself/herself and the preorder is accessed, verified and/or modified. The preorder is then forwarded to the service provider and the delivery of the service is optimally timed to the readiness of the customer. The customer'"'"'s profile and preorder information are maintained in a database and used for in-house precision marketing campaigns and cross-promotional opportunities. For example, in a restaurant embodiment, a registered customer is given access to menus and may create menu preferences for a participating restaurant. The registered customer may also make a reservation at a participating restaurant for a party of any size in advance (for example, up to 24 hours) of the reservation time. The food and/or drink preorder for each guest in the party may be completed in advance and maintained on the server, with the reservation time, for access when the party arrives at the designated reservation time. After a verification process, the customer may retrieve the party'"'"'s preorder, make any desired changes, and then verify the preorder at the kiosk. Once the preorder is verified, the customer may finalize the preorder and proceed to the hostess kiosk where the preorder is accessed by the restaurant staff. Either when the party is seated or at an appropriate time prior to seating (based on a comparison of the seating wait queue to the kitchen wait queue), the preorder is forwarded for preparation so that the ordered food and/or drink arrives shortly after the customer'"'"'s party is seated.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for improving efficiency of delivering food and/or drinks to a customer at a restaurant, comprising:

receiving at a computer from a customer a reservation including a preorder of the food and/or drink the customer wishes to receive upon arrival or seating at the restaurant;

validating the reservation once the customer has arrived at the restaurant;

once the reservation is validated and a wait time for the customer is determined to be less than or equal to a preparation time for preparing the preorder of food and/or drink, forwarding the preorder of food and/or drink of the validated reservation to a kitchen, a kitchen management system, and/or a bar for preparation at or before the time the customer arrives or is seated at a table; and

storing in a database a record of the customer'"'"'s purchases in a customer profile.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer profile stored in the database includes at least the customer'"'"'s preferences for restaurants, shopping, travel, entertainment, and/or combinations thereof

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer'"'"'s reservation includes a preorder of food and/or drink for members of a party;

and

wherein the validating includes validating the reservation when at least one member of the party is present at the restaurant and available for seating at the restaurant.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the reservation is created by the customer accessing a web site including a menu for the restaurant from which one or more members of the party create the preorder of food and/or drink.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising selecting at least a portion of the preorder of food and/or drink from a list of favorite menu items off of the restaurant menu for at least one member of the party, said list of favorite menu items being stored in the customer profile for said at least one member of the party.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the reservation is created by the customer accessing a kiosk or computer terminal located at or near the restaurant including a menu for the restaurant from which one or more members of the party create the preorder of food and/or drink.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising selecting at least a portion of the preorder of food and/or drink from a list of favorite menu items off of the restaurant menu for at least one member of the party, said list of favorite menu items being stored in the customer profile for said at least one member of the party.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the reservation is accessed by the customer and the presence of said at least one member of the party at the restaurant is validated using a kiosk or computer terminal located at or near the restaurant, and the contents of the reservation are modified as appropriate, approved, and confirmed by said at least one member of the party.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the confirmed reservation is forwarded to a hostess for placing the party in a queue to be seated.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein the preorder of food and/or drink is manually communicated to the kitchen and/or bar.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein the preorder of food and/or drink is communicated to the kitchen and/or bar by a seating management system when the seating management system determines that the wait time for the party is less than or equal to the preparation time for preparing the preorder of food and/or drink.

12. The method of claim 3, wherein the customer profile identifies preferences of the customer including a list of favorite menu items available from said restaurant.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the customer is offered special offers from the restaurant based on the contents of the customer'"'"'s profile.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the customer profile is linked to a unique customer identifier and access to the customer profile is denied without said unique customer identifier.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the unique customer identifier comprises a biometric scan, an access card, a retinal scan, a password, or a key fob.

16. The method of claim 3, further comprising storing the customer'"'"'s preorder in a database and using the customer'"'"'s preorder in precision marketing to the customer and/or providing discount offers, special offers, and/or gifting options to the customer.

17. The method of claim 3, further comprising committing to payment for the preorder of food and/or drink prior to being seated.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the customer profile further includes the customer'"'"'s travel preferences, shopping preferences, entertainment preferences, hospitality preferences, and/or combinations thereof.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the reservation is part of an event package that utilizes the customer profile to preselect travel and dining services for the customer based on the customer'"'"'s preferences in the customer profile.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the event package comprises a travel itinerary specifying travel and dining services based on the customer profile, further comprising using a GPS device to guide the customer through the travel itinerary based on the customer'"'"'s location as determined by the GPS device.

21. A system for improving efficiency of servicing customers in a restaurant, comprising:

a customer kiosk or customer terminal located at or near the restaurant through which a customer creates a reservation including a preorder of food and/or drink for members of a party and through which the presence of one or more members of the party at the restaurant is validated; and

a hostess kiosk or terminal that accepts the reservation from the customer kiosk or computer terminal and, when a wait time for the party is determined to be less than or equal to a preparation time for preparing the preorder of food and/or drink, forwards the preorder of food and/or drink to a kitchen, a kitchen management system, and/or a bar for preparation at or before the time the party is seated at a table.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising a web server including software that is used by the customer to create the reservation including the preorder of food and/or drink and to store the reservation at least until one or more members of the party is validated as present at the restaurant.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the web server further comprises a customized profile for at least one member of the party, said customized profile including a list of favorite menu items off of a restaurant menu for said at least one member of the party from which at least a portion of the preorder of food and/or drink may be selected.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the customer kiosk or computer terminal further comprises a customized profile for at least one member of the party, said customized profile including a list of favorite menu items off of a restaurant menu for said at least one member of the party from which at least a portion of the preorder of food and/or drink may be selected.

25. The system of claim 21, further comprising a seating management system that communicates the preorder of food and/or drink to the kitchen, kitchen management system, and/or bar when the seating management system determines that the wait time for the party is less than or equal to the preparation time for preparing the preorder of food and/or drink.

26. The system of claim 21, further comprising a customized profile in a database accessible by said customer at said customer kiosk or computer terminal, said customized profile identifying preferences of the customer including a list of favorite menu items and preferred services available from said restaurant.

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising a database management system that provides special offers from the restaurant to the customer based on the contents of the customer'"'"'s customized profile.

28. The system of claim 26, further comprising customer authentication means for authenticating the customer using a unique customer identifier.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the unique customer identifier comprises a biometric scan, an access card, a retinal scan, a password, or a key fob.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein the database management system stores the customer'"'"'s order in the database and uses the customer'"'"'s order in precision marketing to the customer and/or in providing discount offers, special offers, and/or gifting options to the customer.

31. The system of claim 21, wherein the hostess kiosk or terminal comprises means for committing at least one member of the party to payment for the preorder of food and/or drink prior to being seated.

32. The system of claim 26, wherein the customized profile further includes the customer'"'"'s travel preferences, shopping preferences, entertainment preferences, hospitality preferences, and/or combinations thereof.