AWS for Industries
Pay and earn rewards at restaurants and bars with Amazon One
Amazon and the hospitality industry share a common trait—customer obsession. We both believe that enhancing the guest experience and improving operational efficiency can lead to more loyalty and return visits. Amazon and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have developed several solutions and services to help restaurants and bars offer that seamless, digital experience guests crave.
One of these services is Amazon One.
Whether it’s at a quick-serve restaurant or a busy sports bar, guests are discovering the power of Amazon One to make their lives faster and more convenient. Amazon One, the palm-based recognition service, allows guests to identify themselves and pay, just by hovering their palm.
For guests looking to grab a quick meal over their lunch break or dinner and drinks with friends, Amazon One addresses a major pain point: long lines and wait times. With Amazon One, instead of fumbling with cards or digital wallets, guests can use their palm to pay for their orders and redeem rewards. That means faster service, shorter lines, and better dining and drinking experiences.
Rewarding loyalty just got easier
Restaurant loyalty programs, with rewards such as free menu items or discounts, help businesses build ongoing engagement with their guests. In a recent study, most consumers (86 percent) rate these transactional benefits as an important driver of loyalty and repeat visits. While restaurants are betting on loyalty programs to help obtain valuable guest information—in addition to increasing visit frequency and basket size—simply having these kinds of programs in place isn’t enough, the study says.
An effortless and personalized loyalty experience is a great way to attract new members and drive program engagement. Recent research found that 70 percent of Americans said they are more likely to join a rewards program that did not require a physical card. Further, 68 percent of adults said they like it when loyalty programs send personalized offers and discounts based on purchase history.
Although 56 percent of consumers say that they’re more likely to buy from a brand with a loyalty program, they don’t often take advantage of their rewards due to difficulties tracking and manually redeeming them.
Amazon One enhances the consumer experience by integrating the service with loyalty membership programs. Guests can now earn and redeem rewards the same way they pay for their purchases—with their palm, without digging for cards, scanning barcodes, or entering their phone number.
Making happy hour happier
Verifying a consumer’s age for alcohol purchases is a known friction point for restaurants, bars, and retailers. The extra step can slow down the transaction, lengthen the line, and keep everybody waiting longer. That’s changing with the new age verification capability of Amazon One.
At Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, guests can use the age verification capabilities of Amazon One in two of the stadium’s bars. When an enrolled guest who is of age hovers their palm over the Amazon One device, the bartender will see a “21+” message along with the selfie on their screen. After a quick visual match of the photo with the guest in front of them, the bartender can complete the sale.
When the guest is ready to pay, they simply hover their palm over the Amazon One device again, and they’ll be charged for their order. The whole process is fast and seamless. Guests no longer need to flip through wallets searching for IDs and bartenders can serve more guests faster.
“At Coors Field, we have always prided ourselves in putting customer experience first. As the first sports stadium to enable cutting-edge palm recognition technology like Amazon One for age verification, we are enabling a friction-free experience for Colorado Rockies fans so they can grab a drink and get back to the game faster,” said John McKay, senior director of food service operations and development for the Colorado Rockies.
Guests already enrolled in Amazon One can take advantage of the age verification feature by visiting one.amazon.com and uploading a photo of the front and back of their government-issued ID, such as their driver’s license, and a selfie. Once signed up for age verification, consumers will no longer need to produce an ID when purchasing alcoholic beverages at participating outlets.
A boon for business
With chronic labor shortages adding to the daily stress for cashiers, waiters, and bartenders, businesses are realizing the need to provide greater support and investment to keep workers at their job delivering quality guest experiences. The National Restaurant Association’s State of the Restaurant Industry report found that 58% of operators say using technology and automation to alleviate labor shortages will become more common in their segment in 2023.
Amazon One’s ability to reduce the friction around ID verification, loyalty programs, and payments can help improve the work experience for employees and boost operational performance. Employees can spend less time on transactional, repetitive tasks and focus on more engaging, consumer-centric functions that keep consumers coming back and lift the bottom line.
Conclusion
In a presentation with Amperity, Steven M. Elinson, Managing Director of Travel and Hospitality at AWS, says many restaurant executives want to discuss how they can continue to elevate guest experiences as more interactions become digitized and contactless. Amazon One is one of the many services and solutions offered by Amazon and AWS that can help restaurants and bars improve the customer and employee experience.
Bring Amazon One to your guests. If you’re a restaurant or bar that wants to provide its consumers with a fast, convenient, more engaging experience, contact us to learn more about how Amazon One can help.
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