Zomato, Dineout Explore Contactless Dining For Life After Covid-19 Lockdowns

“We can clearly see that delivery restaurants are still running in some or the other fashion,  they’re not still making money, but it is going to happen. Dine-in people are not going to jump back soon. People are still going to be afraid of going out. It will take time for things to come to normal, but delivery businesses are gonna thrive immediately.” – POSist founder Ashish Tulsian

Once the lockdown is lifted, there is no doubt that people are still going to be sceptical about stepping out. Besides travel, the restaurant industry is going to suffer a major revenue loss, as consumers avoid public spaces. With online ordering expected to skyrocket for food and grocery, will restaurants find it hard to resume business? In an attempt to gain the confidence of consumers, food aggregators Zomato and Dineout have launched a ‘Contactless Dining’ setting for its users.

Both the companies are allowing consumers to experience a contactless experience through digital menus, orders and payment process even when dining out. Zomato users can scan the QR codes on respective tables, explore digital menus and place the orders through their phones.

Zomato is also building new features to allow users to place orders for multiple courses and also split the bill with fellow diners digitally to stop the exchange of cash. The company believes that online ordering will ensure that the customer doesn’t have to wait to place orders or pay the bill.

Meanwhile, Dineout will also allow users to have an end-to-end digital experience. The app will allow users to reserve tables and valet services beforehand. Users can also self-check-in and pay online. Dineout’s inResto restaurant management system will support the contactless dining option.

“So far, the waiting staff will still need to bring you your food from the kitchen, but as long as the waiting staff is wearing a mask, and following the highest hand hygiene standards, we should all be okay,” Zomato said, in a blog post.

Even Dineout has focused on the availability of masks and hand sanitisers to maintain the hygiene of restaurants. Moreover, Dineout has also made it mandatory for restaurants to have thermal scanners checkpoints for both staff and diners.

Both platforms will also allow users to check the restaurant’s hygiene before making decisions on where to eat. Besides this, the customers can also report any hygiene-related issues.

Zomato has also announced that the company will be reaching out to the restaurant partners to educate them about the self-regulations and contactless dining. Whereas, Dineout has already issued the guidelines for the restaurant partners to follow. However, the customers will still have to wait until the lockdown is lifted.

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