Restaurants can experience numerous benefits from mobile payment systems

Numerous types of businesses can gain benefits from installing a mobile payment system, one being restaurants.

In fact, the Italian restaurant group Prezzo recently launched an application that allows customers to pay with their mobile phones, according to Eat Out Magazine. Diners are able to access their bills on their phones during a meal and pay whenever they want to leave. If dining with friends, the app makes it possible for groups to split the bill as well as the tip. Receipts are emailed and payments can be made with a debit or credit card or PayPal. This type of convenience is enough to potentially keep customers coming back.

"We are pleased to be the first U.K.-wide restaurant chain to offer this exciting payment technology in our restaurants through their mobile apps," Prezzo Chief Executive Jonathan Kaye told the source. "This app puts them in control when it comes to paying the bill and I am confident that it will prove both popular and successful."

If successful, restaurants in the United States should research the technology and potentially implement it in their own businesses.

What benefits can restaurants experience from mobile payments?
Businesses across the country might want to consider implementing an electronic payment system to ensure they don't fall behind the competition. Those benefits include:

- Better incentive programs: One way restaurants can draw customers back is through incentive programs, and these can be improved using mobile payment systems, according to Optimism. In the past, people were required to carry a card or provide a phone number for every purchase, but mobile applications allow this information to be stored in an application. With technological advances, customers are increasingly placing value on the ability to use mobile phones for transactions, so restaurants can improve retention by implementing incentive programs via mobile devices.

- Track customer trends: Smaller restaurants can struggle with inventory. Through the use of mobile payment technology businesses can better track customers, which makes it easier to keep the correct products in stock. For example, each time someone pays for something using their mobile phone it allows a restaurant to track exactly what was purchased. If this information shows that a lot of meatballs are sold on the weekend, restaurants can make sure to have plenty of this product in stock on Saturday and Sunday to ensure they don't run out.

- Increase checkout speed: Waiting for the bill can be annoying, and in certain instances lead customers to never come back to an establishment. By implementing a mobile payment system, restaurants can prevent people from waiting too long to pay the bill. If there are a lot of customers, diners can simply use their mobile phones to pay for their meals and leave without having to sign for the check. Fast checkout times are a great way to improve retention, which is essential for growing businesses.