People go to restaurants for all kinds of reasons, whether it be to experience new tastes and different cuisines, or perhaps to remain within the confines of routine and go to the usual place to have their favorite burger every Friday. However, cannot these reasons be fulfilled by ordering from Wolt, you ask? Well, there is something else involved when eating out: the level of interaction.
With the case of Wolt, the amount of time spent communicating with the customer is minimized to maximize efficiency. The simpler the interaction is with ordering food to your home, the less communication errors there will be. With just a push of a button, you will get your meal delivered to your doorstep within a reasonable time.
Wolt’s delivery courier usually greets you, confirms your restaurant, receives the food, and says goodbye. Moreover, with the rising number of foreign couriers, it may be somewhat awkward for some Finnish people to interact in English. That’s about all the human interaction you get with Wolt, and that is alright because the point is not to have deep conversations with the courier, but to fill your stomach with delicious food.
The concept of a traditional restaurant is different. You would step inside the establishment and a waitress will greet you and guide you to a free table. Afterwards, menus are provided and the host may ask for drink orders while you browse the menu. When everyone has made up their mind about their desired meal, a waitress will arrive, write your orders down, thank you and disappear into the depths of the kitchen. While you are waiting for the meals, there is a great opportunity to socialize with the company or browse your social media.
After an appropriate period of time, the waitress appears again, hand-delivering said meals. The waitress wishes you, “bon appétit” and leaves you to enjoy the food. Waitresses usually stop by tables to ask if you are enjoying the meal and to make sure that all is well, while using the opportunity to refill any beverages. After everyone is finished, the waitress comes to collect the dishes. Then it is time to discuss if there is still room for dessert, otherwise it is time to pay the bill.
You should feel well served and happy from the restaurant experience when leaving. The level of communication is deeper in the restaurant scenario than just receiving the food from a courier. A good waitress encourages a bit of small talk and situational humor.
Every aspect in a restaurant that makes a meal enjoyable is to personalize each experience, the same way a presentation should be made for the audience, not to the audience. But then again, there are also fast food restaurants where the amount of interaction is minimized, to ensure fast quality products, just like Wolt’s delivery service.
It is up to the customer to choose what kind of experience and level of interaction they want. The idea that no matter what the underlying objective is, whether you want the full restaurant experience or have that restaurant quality product in the comfort of your own home, Wolt provides choice. Imagine waiting two hours for an expensive dish in a fancy restaurant, when you could have just wanted something quick delivered to your door with the same restaurant quality.
Hungry? 