KARACHI ( MEDIA REPORT )
New evidence has emerged which validates the claim that the restaurant in Pakistan certainly booming.
Now, restaurants are set to utilise digital platforms for internal order placements – a move that will reduce time of orders while accommodating more customers.
So, the next time a diner will visit Charcoal Tea at Tariq Road, he or she will not need to wait for a waiter. Instead, the customer will make use of the QR sticker pasted on the table to place an order.
How it works is the customer would scan the aforementioned code on the Android-based application Khawo!, which would then pop up the main menu with food categories like starters and main course, among other things.
The items available will be accompanied with actual price tags which will address complaints of overcharging. No involvement of waiters will be required during the placement of orders.
Talking to media, Khawo! Co-Founder Farrukh Hanif said that the mobile application is aimed at removing the long wait in restaurants.
“The app will remove the unnecessary wait between food items and customers,” he said. “Sometimes, restaurants are short of order-taking and delivery staffers, especially during the peak lunch hours at restaurants near and around offices.”
On the other hand, Charcoal Tea Owner Muhammad Qasim said that the application has been doing wonders for the restaurant and he has asked developers for a feature for home orders as well.
“It is a brilliant app that we installed recently, though it might take a couple of weeks for our customers to get used to,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fibbi, a restaurant in Bahadurabad, is also about to install the application to digitalise its internal order placement system.
“Currently, the app is in its testing phase. Soon, you will see some big names in Karachi moving on the app,” said Hanif, while claiming he has received interest from leading restaurants in Defence, Clifton, Tariq Road and Bahadurabad.
Karachi alone has some 2,000-2,500 restaurants, hotels and dhabas. For Khawo! co-founder, the metropolis is a huge market to tap, before he moves on to Lahore and Islamabad.
“The app would also enable restaurants to develop their customer database and perform analyses on the data,” said Hanif. “Ultimately, the analytics would enable restaurants to do more for customers.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 11th, 2017.