Now, WhatsApp your order from your table

This picture has been used for representational purposes

The National Restaurant Association of India has entered a strategic partnership with the Gurgaon-based O2O commerce platform, Dotpe, to provide seamless B2B digital ordering solutions fully integrated with a payment gateway for its member restaurants and cloud kitchens.

Now, the five lakh-plus restaurants fraternity, represented by NRAI, will be able to reorient their operations by connecting with their customers directly through WhatsApp. NRAI members can avail these services at a low fee rather than a percentage-based commission. Once the lockdown is lifted, the restaurants can use the Dotpe's QR-based catalogue and e-commerce platform for digital ordering, which ensures minimal human touch.

This is how it works. Guests can scan the QR code placed on the tables from their own mobile phones, and view the entire menu of the restaurant on the phone just like an e-commerce catalogue. Guests can order through the catalogue while they remain seated and also make the payment through the phone. The order-related communication will continue over WhatsApp. Currently used by a few prominent food chains, this system will eventually benefit lakhs of large and small offline businesses within the next few months.

Speaking on the partnership, Anurag Katriar, President of NRAI, says of the food aggregators that have been at loggerheads with restaurants, "This will be especially useful in the post-pandemic era. I firmly believe that this solution will benefit the entire F&B fraternity at large, benefitting lakhs of small restaurants across the country. This humble beginning will free them off the clutches of the modern-day digital landlords." Shailaz Nag, founder, Dotpe says, "In the case of dine-in, customer safety is of prime importance and by using our digital ordering solution, customers can avoid multiple human contact points. Moreover, there's no need for customers to download any additional app as they can start ordering food by simply scanning a QR code."

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