Gamification, you’ve probably heard this buzzworthy term more than a few times over the past year, and there’s a reason. From learning new skills to breakthroughs in scientific research, the use of gamification in business is drastically rising because of its effectiveness. Now, it’s time for the restaurant industry to take advantage.

Ameego, the premier online scheduling and labor control platform made specifically for the restaurant industry, recently published an article detailing how restaurants can use gamification to exceed their goals, and it explains gamification perfectly.

Boiled down, gamification is essentially taking an often boring activity, and transforming it into a fun game to achieve high productivity.

And, as of late, leaders in the restaurant world have been utilizing gamification to solve industry-wide problems from high turnover to low sales. Here are just a few that you might want to know about.

Improving employee performance

With the help of gamification experts Guest Engine, CARA, one of Canada’s leading franchise operations, developed a gamified program called #Connect in the hopes of increasing employee performance.

The program is based on the concept of “cooperative competition” in which employees work together to achieve individual goals such as exceeding sales numbers or receiving a positive review.

using gamification in restaurants to increase employee performance

When those goals are met, the gamification comes into play and employees earn points which they can then redeem for rewards, such as badges that signify an accomplishment, perks like writing your own schedule and monetary rewards.

The results: more sales, higher productivity and increased staff morale.

Boosting customer engagement

The use of gamification can extend beyond operations, and a great example is the Dominos ‘Pizza Hero’ app that, among other things, gamified the ordering process.

The app, which was a virtual pizza “slot machine”, would randomly generate a pizza for its owner after shaking the app. To top it off, the pizza could be ordered directly from the app.

using gamification in restaurants to increase employee performance

It was a hit amongst indecisive eaters and within just two weeks of its release, the app generated over 140,000 downloads, doing wonders for their engagement.

For more ways to leverage gamification in your restaurant, check out the Ameego Blog →