The Impact of Reliance Jio on the Indian Restaurant Industry

Lately, the streets have been abuzz with the news of Reliance Jio launching unlimited free calls and high speed internet at dirt cheap prices. While Mukesh Ambani’s speech reportedly cost Bharti Airtel and Idea Rs 12,250 crores collectively, it has resulted in excitement among the consumers, and apprehension among other businesses. Let us have a look at what Reliance Jio has in store for the restaurant industry.

What Reliance Jio Means for Restaurants

Reliance Jio is good news for the FoodTech startups as it means more number of internet users, resulting in more business opportunity. In pre-Reliance Jio scenario, the number of delivery orders placed online was around 70%, with maximum of those orders placed through mobile phones or handheld devices. As the end consumers will now have better access to internet, the number of online orders is now expected to shoot upto 90%.

The direct impact of Reliance Jio would be a sudden increase in the number of internet users and data consumption. As other telecom companies are slashing their prices to retain customers and to survive Mukesh Ambani’s telecom revolution, experts are expecting an exponential increase in the online orders. So, the restaurants that have so far still managed to survive by clutching on to their traditional non-tech ways are up for some serious competition.

Several restaurant outlets have already shut down their restaurant outlets, and are operating through their kitchen outlets, taking outlets through online ordering only. The market size of cloud kitchens is expected to reach Rs 300-400 crore by the end of 2016.  With cloud kitchens already creating a niche in the restaurant food delivery business, the prospects for dine-in restaurants don’t look too good unless they incorporate technology in their operations as well as services.

For Restaurant Operations-

As cloud technology developed over the years, point of sales software has evolved to be the key point in restaurant management. Features such as automatic billing, central kitchen management, real-time reporting and analytics are some of the must-haves that have simplified and automated restaurant operations. Quick and efficient data integration will lead to improved restaurant management.

With better ease of availability of the internet at dirt cheap prices, even small restaurant owners will be able to implement restaurant technology at their food outlets.

For Customer Services-

There will be an automatic adaptation of the tech services such as Online Ordering and Online Payment integration to cater to the public demands. Almost all restaurants are already using these services; low internet prices, and high demand will propel the small players to adapt to the trends as well.

For Restaurant Marketing

Digital marketing will emerge as the prime source of customer acquisition for restaurants, and is also expected to overtake broadcast media in terms of ROI and customer reach. Social media is poised to become the number one source of organic customer acquisition. With paid ads and the right content positioning, restaurants can target the right audience. Loyalty programs and CRM are also expected to play a pivotal role in restaurant marketing.

The era of FoodTech revolution has had already begun. Reliance Jio is poised to take it to the next level.