Nationwide roll-out for restaurant app which lets customers order and pay

By Gemma McKenna

Published: 03 December, 2013

Q App, which allows restaurant diners to browse the menu, order and pay from their smartphone, has launched in a number of high profile London venues and is preparing to roll out across the country.

Q app

The app, which aims to have 250,000 downloads by summer 2014, is now in use at a number of major outlets in the capital, including the Southbank Centre, ETM Group's The Botanist, The Cadogan and Angel and Crown, Glendola's Waxy O'Connor's, Palace Theatre and Konditor & Cook. Plans are underway for nationwide expansion.

The developers say that its format gives venues premium product placement slots to help up-sell higher margin products. It also gathers customer data which can be used for targeted special offers. Q App accepts all major credit and debit cards and alerts customers via their phone when the order is ready for collection, and allows users to specify their collection time-slot.

Q app

The founders also say the streamlined ordering process has not only seen an average 10% rise in orders across participating venues, but also cut operating costs and boosted average order values.

The app is available on both iPhone and Android and was developed by a group of digital entrepreneurs and hospitality industry professionals including Caffè Nero's Paul Ettinger; Tom and Ed Martin of the ETM Group; Funkin's Alex Carlton and Zoopla's Alex Chesterman.

Ed Martin, co-founder of ETM Group said: "Using the app means we are able to process significantly more orders during busy periods, while the average order value is also noticeably higher as a result of our ability to promote and up-sell additional products. Just as importantly, the customer feedback has been excellent - the convenience provided means our customers don't have to queue so are able to benefit from this virtual VIP treatment at a press of a button."

Tim Bichara, business development director at Q App said it allowed "time-strapped customers" to spend more time socialising while "venues can increase staff efficiency and offer a better service whilst generating more revenue and gaining valuable insight into their customers' purchasing behaviour".

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