Safaricom and Huawei are piloting “Scan & Order”, an innovative new solution for restaurants to help them digitize their menu and ordering systems enabling them to provide better customer service, optimize their menu and pricing strategies, and leverage the power of big data.
Safaricom and Huawei have long worked together to build widespread connectivity infrastructure and payments systems. Mobile financial services such as M-PESA are a critical enabler for digital services, facilitating easy transactions between people, businesses and government, and enabling an ecosystem of innovative services. The next step is to develop new digital services that build on these to change lives.
The Scan & Order technology is a new innovation that will not only improve service efficiency. It will also help restaurants optimize their product offerings and their pricing strategies, integrating with M-PESA for easy payments. It can give them tools to plan their fresh produce purchases and supply chains. By enabling real-time feedback mechanisms, Merchants can quickly and cost-effectively respond to consumers requirements in the restaurant.
It also enables them to develop loyalty schemes and build long-term relationships between users and merchants by enabling bonus point management. By using this new service to order food, merchants and consumers can benefit from this digital ecosystem. This will bring continuous service improvement and improve the digitization level of the Kenyan catering industry. With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, it is also the right time to further improve contactless ordering in restaurants reducing the risk of further infections.
Managing Director of M-PESA Africa and Acting Chief Financial Services Officer, Sitoyo Lopokoiyit started the solution at Pete’s Cafe in Kilimani: “I want to thank Huawei their R&D team and everybody behind Huawei for bringing this solution to life. Thank you Pete’s for being the 1st restaurant to have Scan & Order.”
The trial has been launched at Pete’s Cafe, where the CEO, Pete Owiti said. “We are happy to embrace technology and again to be the first restaurant in Kenya to launch the Scan & Order service together with Huawei and M-PESA. Pete is 100% owned by locals for locals with a global touch. Together we are chasing a digital world!”
Pete’s café established its first premise in 2006 with a counter at Rosslyn Academy and Hillcrest International School as a family-run business and has now become a fully structured corporate-run business. They’ve since gone on to have 4 branches and have recently started works on building a new store at Shell Thika in a new partnership with Vivo Energy. The plan is to roll out at least 3 stores every subsequent year.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Meng Wei, CEO of Huawei Kenya stated that: “Building on this cooperation, Huawei will continue to work with Safaricom to continuously invest in innovation and support Pete’s Cafe’s digital business development. We will create more innovative services and a richer digital life for all Kenyans. Further bringing the digital world to every person, home and organization in Kenya.”