Nagpur based Kronoesistech has launched an app platform that aims to replace the oudated paper styled menu with a more novel and attractive style of electronic menu. The mobile app can be used by customers to drill down details & check pictures of item/service they want to order from to view Food/Item menu, tablet menu. It also helps to keep track of regular customer and can get feedback easily to inform them about promotion offers. 
What about the backend impact/effort for restaurants/salons etc to start using this service? The basic effort that is needed from restaurant end is to impart training to waiter/captains and also ensure that they have basic infrastructure in place – i.e. Wifi and security panel for tablets.
The startup is also planning to launch a similar app for salons enabling them to view hairstyles and views/pictures and other services that are provided in the particular salon or chain.
Unlike several other startups in this space, Kronoesistech is targeting Tier-2 cities like Nagpur and the response hasn’t been as great – the team is now planning to move to Hyderabad and Pune.
One of the adoption issue that they have been facing is of justifying the cost of tablet, which restaurants aren’t comfortable spending in (as they aren’t sure of the RoI).
Plus, it changes the entire backend process of order management, which actually is core to a restaurant.
In the past we have profiled startups like Bombil Menu and LogBook which are focusing on tablet technology for retail market and if there was one takeaway that one can gather from sales model of these business, it is this:
Retail businesses are currently grappling with cost and several other issues (weekend vs weekday traffic, for example) and expecting them to change process to adopt to a new technology isn’t easy. The tech savvy ones will do it, but as TableGrabber founder mentioned during UnPluggd that even the most high-end/premium restaurants are running on Microsoft Word/Excel and aren’t so tech savvy as we’d expect them to.
So what works?
A technology like this has to have revenue impact and while cost reduction in number of waiters etc is fine, technology startups need to realize that labor is cheap in India and while restaurants find it difficult to impart basic tablet training to waiters, a training for tablets is far fetched an idea. Importantly, Indian customer isn’t yet tech savvy to use a self-service app when they visit restaurants (read: Why Indians do not buy online?).
That is, a human interaction cannot be totally reduced – so tablet technology startups need to take a wider view of the business problem statement and sell them the CRM capability of the technology or even a better order management capabilty etc.
What are your thoughts?
