Imagine a customer ordering his or her meal with a mobile app that then triggers the store to make that hot sandwich just as the customer pulls into the parking lot.
That day is coming soon—at least at a Wawa test store.
Michael Sherlock, vice president of fresh food and beverage for the Wawa, Pa.-based chain, says the company is about to start testing a mobile-app feature that uses geofencing technology to properly track where a person is, which assures his or her order is hot and ready precisely as that customer walks into the store.
With the initial test, customers will not be allowed to pay until they’ve entered the store, which keeps open the potential for impulse sales for now, Sherlock says.
For retailers, the option of ordering food via a mobile phone presents several challenges, including the loss of impulse buys and the lack of a human touch in the store. The scenarios above may occur as consumers push the mobile-ordering trend.
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