Case study

Problem statement
Following a customer survey, PizzaExpress identified one of their customers’ biggest
gripes was the time it took to wind up the dining experience and pay the bill. This
was a particular issue for PizzaExpress as their customer base contains a large
percentage of families, a market they have actively targeted. Once the meal was
finished families struggled to keep young children entertained while waiting for their
bill to arrive. The two main insights from the survey were: (1) awareness of vouchers
and offers available; and (2) the time it took to pay and leave once the meal was
finished. As PizzaExpress is notoriously busy, having customers waiting to pay when
other customers are waiting for tables was having an impact on sales as the third
biggest concern was lack of available seating. PizzaExpress wanted to respond to
these specific issues by delivering a tangible improvement to the dining experience.
Their solution
PizzaExpress decided to develop a mobile app that would allow customers to not
only book tables prior to their visit, but also pay their bill from their table and redeem
any available voucher codes against their meal. They identified PayPal as their
partner of choice for mobile payments due to its proven security and the level of
customers already holding an existing account. The app was easy and simple to use
for customers who could use it to pay their bill securely as soon as they had finished
their meal, using a 12-digit code located at the bottom of their receipt. They had
instant access to current voucher codes which could be applied to their bill at the
point of checkout which saved customers having to research them and/or print out
vouchers prior to their visit. This additional functionality increased the customer
base as table booking and voucher codes could be accessed by customers who still
preferred to pay their bill in person. Once paid, confirmation was sent to both the
customer and the restaurant till and the customer was free to leave. The app went
live in the summer of 2018 and has been updated regularly in response to customer
feedback. It was the first of its kind to offer in-house online payments and the first
collaboration of its kind for PayPal.
Their results
Within the first week the restaurant took more than £10,000 in payments through
the app, rising to over £100,000 in the first month. The app also facilitated more
than 15,000 booking requests, 5,000 more than the target set for the first month.
"Based on your study of the first chapter of the Mobile Marketing course,
identify the three actions taken by Pizza Express and provide a detailed
explanation with a quote from the case study to justify your answer."