Pub chain Wetherspoons has rolled out an app to its Nottinghamshire outlets which allows customers to order without even going to the bar or talking to staff.
The app takes food and drinks orders – and lets people pay for them – as soon as they have found a table.
Customers make their selection from a scrolling menu, which is received by bar staff and then delivered to their table.
It also features a ‘reorder’ function, making it easy to repeat regular purchases.
The company says the app will benefit those with small children who cannot be left alone and prevents customers from having to carry large rounds of drinks through a busy pub.
After being trialled in several locations the app has been rolled out across 900 pubs in the UK and Ireland.
Lloyds Bar on Carlton Street, Hockley, has been using the app for the last week.
Kitchen manager Mark Hanley said: “The app has only just launched in our store but so far it’s been popular – especially at the weekend.
“It gives customers instant availability by telling them what we’ve got there and then, or if we have run out of something – and cuts out the middle man which minimises mistakes.
“I think it is something we could be seeing in pubs everywhere soon – it’s much more convenient when you don’t have to leave the table and everything comes to you.”
The app follows a similar idea to the touch screen self-ordering kiosks introduced in McDonalds restaurants last year.
Wetherspoons has generated debate in the past after its carpets became a talking point on Facebook.
Michael Ehret, Division of Marketing professor at Nottingham Business School, thinks the introduction of self service technology can have both positive and negative effects.
He said: “Self service is being introduced in many areas – retail, banking and all sorts of industries – and depending on how it is implemented, can offer a more straight-forward, efficient and smooth customer experience.
“Technology can make things easier in many ways – but it can also be more complicated than traditional methods and cause businesses to lose personal contact with customers.
“People are best for understanding people, and if you lose direct interaction with customers it may hit back on you at some point.”
