5 Ways Your Restaurant Can Use Technology to Gain Customers

Is your favorite restaurant wired for your convenience? Check out the following ways your local establishment is keeping in contact with you.
1. Now more than ever, restaurants need to be aware of their web footprint when it comes to reviews and ratings on sites. Instead of diners using on-line sites for ratings and comments, develop your own apps to let diners send comments directly to you. Then, you can respond directly.
2. Don’t let independent sites like Open Table make reservations for your guests. Create your own app for taking reservations and keep diners from comparing you to other restaurants near you.
3. Learn about your guest’s birthdays, anniversaries, graduations through your app, surprise them with a little surprise when they arrive. Trust me, they’ll think of you in a very special way from then on.
4. With your own app from Snappii, the GPS feature will allow guests to let their friends know they’re at your restaurant so they’re more likely to meet up and join them for a meal, dessert or beverage.
5. Imagine diners being able to peruse appetizers, main courses, beverages on line through your app. All of that is possible with Snappii 2.0. Any staff person can set the menu up and change items and prices whenever you want. Your diners can not only download your app to their smartphone, but they can also place it on their desktop. Whether at home, work or on the go, they’re just a click away from your menu, placing a take out order or setting up reservations.

Go to Snappii and start building your app today. Soon, the tables will be filling.

Why Every Restaurant Must Have Their Own App

In an article written in November 2010 for Nation’s Restaurant News, J.J. shared in “More consumers using mobile apps for restaurants” that, in the first 6 months that Kudzu Interactive’s Snapfinger app went live in 2009, it generated $10 million in aggregate take-out and delivery sales for the 28,000 plus chain restaurants on the system at the time.

OpenTable Inc., which launched in May of 2008, says that, as of September 30, 2012, more than 5 million diners have been seated via app made reservations. Some San Francisco restaurants now believe 10% of their reservations are made through their app.
With the numbers continuing to grow, Technology research specialist Gartner Inc., estimated by the end of 2010, 1.2 billion people will carry phones capable of mobile commerce. In The State of Mobile Apps, written for the Application Conference w/ Insights from the Nielson Company's Mobile Apps Playbook, states that 1 in every 4 adults have a Smartphone, pocket-sized device.
If you are the owner of a restaurant chain or an individual restaurant, what does this mean to you?  Given the number of customers showing their willingness to us apps to place orders and make reservations, you can’t afford to not ensure you have your own app or you’re likely to lose your share of this lucrative market to another local dining establishment.

Yet, you don’t have to pay a third party an exorbitant amount of money to build and maintain your site. Using the latest release of Snappii 2.0, any employee can easily create an app for your restaurant. You can easily let your dining guests let you know the time they’d like a reservation and the number in their party. By looking at pictures, descriptions and even prices if you choose of your entire menu item, they can even order ahead.  Check out this video to learn even more about how Snappii can help your restaurant grow its business and client loyalty.
 
You can also use the information collected by your Snappii 2.0 app to reduce food waste. With a list of diners and the menu items they like, if you are having a Lasagna special today, you can even send those specific diners a special price for the Lasagna just for them to ensure you don’t have any leftovers you’ll possibly need to discard.

Start building your app with Snappii 2.0 today and you can be filling more tables tonight.

The Advantages of Snappii 2.0 Release. Part 3. How to Add/Edit/Delete Data in the Advanced List

Recently Snappii mobile development enterprise haven't supported List tabs/buttons customization in its apps. However due to Snappii 2.0 it is available now. Users often need different types of lists and catalogs into their apps for example to show up their products or services. Usual List control allowed just to show product names, their images and description while there was no ability to add other elements to it or greatly change its layout. At the moment Advanced List view can be easily customized, include most of the elements from the WYSIWYG editor and add new data within the app itself. Let's take a closer look at this new and really helpful feature.

When uploading a data source (read more in our previous posts and FAQ) you will specify the fields which become available in the app later. Some of them are filled out at once using the values from the uploaded Excel spreadsheet. You can simply bind each button with corresponding value from a data source in the buttons settings. If you need to daily or more frequently add new information to it you will obviously like Snappii's new feature. In the Advanced List settings you can setup if other users will be able to modify the content of your lists and add their own data or not. For instance only logged in users will be able to alter apps or any user will. As well Show Email Button option can be enabled to give app users an ability to send the information to any email address. It is really convenient to edit and update information when needed. Let's see how it works in the app.

I have added a list of various types of containers in the app and want to allow app users to add their own containers with pictures and modify the whole list if they don't like anything.

The first image shows how the list looks using already uploaded information. When I click on Add button it opens a form to be filled out. The fields are taken  from the spreadsheet which was earlier uploaded as the data source and contained the fields such as Container, Image1, Detail1, ContainerName etc. The fields names must not contain uncommon characters and should be written without any spaces. Otherwise it won't work. You enter information, upload images by choosing from your current image gallery or taking photos (iPhone or iPad camera). The third image displays what I got after filling in all the fields and uploading images. My item appeared at the bottom of the list. I can now easily modify it or remove by clicking on Edit button (see screenshot number 4).

As you see it is not difficult to create custom iOS apps in minutes with powerful and useful features. Everyone can try it our on Snappii site. No programming skills are required, just register at Snappii site and enjoy the benefits brought to your business by Snappii  2.0 release.

How Verizon, Time Warner, Comcast and other members of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association can save time and money with the release of Snappii 2.0.

Every day, field staff for cable and telecommunications companies head into the field to install new equipment to activate, upgrade or repair cable television, digital phone and broadband account services for new and existing customers. Regardless of which service or customer type, each one requires work orders, lists of equipment used, a customer signature and, in some cases, even a payment to be made.

With the release of Snappii 2.0, all of this information can be captured in an app built with Snappii 2.0. The templates pre-built in Snappii guarantee businesses of all types can create apps for field personnel with no need to hire expensive programmers. Snappii’s simple drag and drop technology can make anyone a programmer, from a parts manager to a dispatcher.

Speaking of parts and dispatch, with Snappii 2.0, you have the ability to incorporate QR codes on all of your parts and supplies and have the field technicians scan them in the field as they are used. No missing inventory and no discovering inventory needs to be re-ordered before it’s completely out for some field personnel.

The GPS technology accessible with Snappii 2.0 allows dispatchers to set up driver routes that ensure the most efficient route is always taken to ensure the most customer needs are met.  Receive an urgent service request, upload a new set of data for that driver and they can reroute to it and maintain the most efficient service route.

Learn more about how the Cable and Telecommunications industries can benefit from the use of technology like those found in an interview C-SPAN did for their The Communicators Cable Show in May of this year with Michael Powell, CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and Glenn Britt of
Time Warner Cable.

With Gartner’s 2013 release of its Tech Trends, it is clear that every business with representatives and technicians in the field needs to look at building custom mobile apps with Snappii 2.0 today. Read what Larry Dignan had to say October 23rd on ZDnet about Gartner’s ranking of Mobile Device Battles and Mobile Applications & HTML5 as the Top Strategic Technology Trends for 2013. With Snappii 2.0 already equipped to help you build apps for Apple, Android and HTML5, there’s no need to put off developing your app until 2013. Snappii 2.0 is ready for you and your business now.

See Create Own Apps October 22nd review of Snappii.

Company’s with Field Service Personnel Will Benefit Greatly from the Snappii 2.0 Release

Snappii’s new enhancements in version 2.0 became available last week. With Snappii 2.0, your field staff will have a completely mobile office at their fingertips.  These up-to-date features allow your Snappii apps to access a variety of data types  and output valuable data, like those needed for service calls, so other personnel can begin processing the data to meet the customer need with industry setting speeds. These enhancements make Snappii 2.0 a leader in the mobile development enterprise and will make your business more productive, deliver more cost-effective services, and ensure you always deliver world-class customer services.. New features are available for use by both Snappii’s DIY(Do It Yourself) users and Snappii’s Full Service customers. Moreover using data sources doesn't require special programming knowledge.  Apps in Snappii 2.0 can be created by any employee. and will make your field representatives fully equipped to complete every sales opportunity and solve any customer concern.

The rhythm of modern life is so rapid that businesses and individuals are always looking for the latest way to fulfill their tasks more quickly so that even more can be accomplished productively. Mobile devices have become a truly indispensable tool in today’s business world. New Snappii technologies in version 2.0 will assist field workers who traditionally have to do a lot of paper work and are mobile. Field employees will be able to eliminate paperwork, improve service response time, while companies will be able to maintain better control of inventory and significantly improve order processing and delivery times. Snappii enhancements provide a great number of crazy app entry features including:

- Create forms collecting diverse types of data including text, date, time, locations, images, numeric, calculators, digital signatures and drawings
- Save data inside the iPhone or iPad app (will businesses want to data is kept on user device?
- Save data only on of value to the device user to the Local database, unless it is of value for every Global app user
- Submit forms to any email address or a server side location
- Fill out the form when no Internet connection is available and submit automatically when WiFi is available.
- Post to Twitter and Facebook accounts on demand.
- Use the SMS button to send messages to any corporate SMS Gateways.

Every new feature in Snappii 2.0 will enable any field worker to complete large volumes of customer work without problems and instantly. If you have staff working in the field, you will be excited to implement a powerful app with the functionality of Snappii 2.0.  Your business can save additional expenditures by implementing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) best practices by significantly reducing the need to purchase and maintain duplicate field service equipment. It will save time for your team and significantly reduce your time and money spent per transaction. Try the Snappii WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editor out today and build your own app without needing to hire any programmers. The Snappii app development solution is 10 times less expensive than hiring developers and your app is completed in hours rather than days and weeks. High quality apps don't have to be expensiveness. Choose Snappii for your mobil app development and we’ll help you create an app that will make you stand out from the competition and raise the morale and productivity of your entire staff.

SnAPPii is changing the Way Businesses Approach App Development

The majority of enterprise mobile application development projects are long,costly initiatives that require a cross-functional effort within the organization.  Collaboration amongst the key stakeholders (IT, development,and the line of business) is absolutely critical for the success of the project.  The problem is the traditional sequence approach to the development life cycle (design, build, test, deploy, update, and analyze)does not lend itself to collaboration and rapid development.   In many cases, the line of business stakeholders who are focused on the user-experience are included late in the development process after the application has been coded and is deemed ready for testing.   Changes to the requirements and any scope creep at this stage require recoding efforts often across multiple platforms (iOS, Android) further delaying deployment.

To compound the issue, the mobile coding skills needed to build on multiple platforms is scarce and existing resources are often tied up delaying the design phase of any new app development projects in the pipeline.Likewise, published apps need to be maintained and updated on an ongoing basis creating an additional challenge.  With the increased demand to mobilize business applications both internally and externally, the lack of available technical skills and the old world approach to developing applications is costing businesses both time and money. 

The SnAPPii Mobile Application Platform was developed to solve these business problems. The platform was specifically designed for all types of users to promote a collaborative and parallel development cycle to deliver rapid app deployment.The SnAPPii WYSIWYG Visual Editor allows both coders and non-coders the ability to design and build apps.  Using the platform,both the technical team as well as the business owners can fully participate in the design, build, and test phases, compressing the development cycle and dramatically improving time to market and lowering costs. Using the SnAPPiiPreview App, design and functionality changes can be deployed in real time to mobile devices for usability testing and direct feedback. 

In addition, SnaPPii Visual Editor comes with a rich library of pre-built features and functionality and allows for multi-source data connectivity to front-end business applications.  Once the app is published and available for users, the SnAPPii platform serves as mobile content management system to make continuous content updates, manage user profiles, send push notifications, and monitor performance and usability.  SnAPPii is truly changing the way businesses approach app development. 

SNAPPII Release Major Upgrade in Functionality

Snappii, a fast growing start up that created a unique platform for rapidly building enterprise grade mobile apps in days and without programming, has release the next generation of if its technology for the iOS  platform. Support for the Android platform and HTML5 web apps will be released over the next 2 months. 

Customers using Snappii 2.0 can create apps that use database(s).   The databases can store any type of information including text, numbers, pictures, and videos.  They can be accessed, edited and modified from the apps.  Furthermore, databases can be stored on Apple devices locally or be server based to share data with other users.

“Marrying databases to apps enables our customers to create all kinds of mobile apps that work with live and dynamic data.  This further distinguishes Snappii as a platform for creating enterprise grade mobile apps, but still not requiring any mobile programming skills” said Alex Bakman company founder and CEO.

In addition to databases Snappii has added many new features requested by customers.  They include the ability to

-          sort any data inside the apps

-          search for any data inside the apps

-          control the appearance of any information organized in list view

-          control the appearance of  any detailed screen

-          control group access to various levels of functionality

-          ability to extract data as PDF reports and email it

-          any much more

“I was asked to find a programmer who could build an app for my company.

When I was given this task, I thought, well if I'm going to hire someone and oversee them, then I better know what it takes to build an app.  It was then that I stumbled on to Snappii.  I was able to build a completely functional database driven app in a matter of hours, and when my President followed up with me the next week regarding my progress with recruiting a programmer, I was able to blow his socks off with this finished product.  The time and money that we saved, building our app with Snappii was significant.  We are already thinking about Version 2.0.  Can you imagine what it would cost me to have a programmer to add new features?  With Snappii, I can make any changes I want, as often as I want, for no additional cost.  Snappii has made me a superstar a work, and is truly one of the best things that I've ever stumbled upon. “ says Leilani Fields, HR Manager Valley Oxygen.

Snappii 2,0 adds 2 new tabs:  Advanced List and Advanced Form.

Using  Advanced List customers have the:

- ability to create database by uploading a spreadsheet. Snappii customers can customize the

- List view and the data they collect from their app users.

-  ability to upload data from own spreadsheet format. Snappii customers can insert the fields they want into the spreadsheet and get the data from app users.

-  supported column datatypes: text, numeric, datetime, date, time, gps location, image, address. Snappii customers can add these types of data to the new spreadsheet format.

-  ability to customize cell and detail view

- control who can add, edit and delete items in a list

- specify groups of users who can add items, who can edit or delete any item (moderators or

admins), and if users can edit or delete items they added

- ability to add email button and allow app users to select items in a list and email a PDF

report of those items

- allow app users to sort the list by various fields in the local database. This option gives app

users the ability to do a search on specific values in the list.

Use Case: A car dealership can show inventory of cars in the app.  Customer can sort the car inventory by models of cars, year, vehicles type, etc. Additionally customers can search for cars based on any field.

Using Advanced form customers can:  

- save new items to the database in addition to ability to email reports

- add to contacts button

-  post to Facebook button

- post to Twitter button

- send text message (SMS)

- location button - show single location on map

- send email button

- ability to allow app users to save photos, drawings/signatures, maps, gps locations to the database

- ability to allow app users to create private lists only on their own device (local database)

-data is cached on the device as it is pulled to the device so users can still view data when they are offline

- data can be entered via advanced form or advanced list while the user is offline 

Use Case: A medical practice requires patients to fill out lots of forms. Paper forms can be eliminated and replaced with an app where users enter data and it is stored on devices.  The data is reviewed and can be emailed as PDF file.  Even without Internet connection, the app will continue to work and save the data locally.  Once the Internet connection is reached, the forms will be sent out. The Advanced Form feature will be especially useful for those who work in fields and don’t have constant access to PCs.

Snappii is committed to continue improvement in functionality for building enterprise grade mobile apps. Please visit Snappii site to check for new options. Snappii offers customer a choice between a do it yourself service and full service app development.