Jan 15, 2021Customers at Japan's Kitasandō Coffee are placing orders and paying for their drinks within about 15 seconds using their iPhone with Apple's NFC App Clips. By providing Near Field Communication (NFC) technology built into dedicated placards, and with either the App Clips or the café's app downloaded onto a person's phone, the café's system was designed to eliminate or shorten queues.
The result is fast turnaround times for customers and increased sales for the café. The system is provided by Kitasandō Coffee's parent company, Kankak, which is both a café and a technology firm. Kankak develops technology that it incorporates into its own cafés. Its app-based ordering system is being deployed at several more shops, the most recent being Kankak's Tailored Café, located in downtown Tokyo.
The COFFEE App
Kitasandō Coffee, which opened its doors to customers last year in Tokyo, offers coffee, specialty drinks, and hot and cold sandwiches. It is the first café to showcase Kankak's digital ordering and payment method designed around the App Clips, as well as a café-dedicated app for viewing menus, placing orders and making payments, according to Daiki Matsudate, an iOS developer at Kankak. The goal for Kitasandō Coffee centers around two efforts: providing high-quality products and an improved experience for busy customers via NFC technology. "This café aims to realize a world where you can buy delicious coffee immediately when you want to drink it," Matsudate says, "by making cashless payments."
Cafés that offer a phone-based ordering and payment system are rare in Tokyo, Matsudate explains, and the technology company intends to open similar cafés around Tokyo and throughout Japan. Kitasandō Coffee was launched in 2019 with an ordering app for iOS- and Android-based phones known as the COFFEE App. Users have been downloading the app and utilizing it to place orders, either as they arrive at the restaurant or in advance. The system also provides a QR code that can be scanned as an alternative to NFC tag reading.
By providing App Clips, the system allows customers to experience some features of the coffee app without having to wait for a download. App Clips was released in October as a way for users to quickly access app features that are faster and lightweight. The clips can be used for quick service, such as at takeout restaurants, or for renting a scooter or setting up an appliance. Rather than downloading an entire app, users can tap their NFC-enabled iOS 14 device and access the features required to complete their transaction. After they are done, they can then be offered the opportunity to download the full app.
Prior to the commercial launch of App Clips, Apple released a Beta version for developers, with which Kankak began working. By the time App Clips was released, Kankak was already familiar with the technology and was prepared to quickly deploy it at Kitasandō Coffee. The company simply added signage at the café with built-in NFC tags containing information about the use of the new, faster version of its ordering solution, Matsudate says. "After that," he states, "we made adjustments until the release, confirmed that it was available, and started using it for our customers."
Café servers can view an order on a dashboard, choose "accept" to indicate they are fulfilling that order, and select a completed prompt once the order is finished.
Customers now have a choice of scanning a QR code or reading a 13.56 MHz NFC tag compliant with the ISO 14443 standard. Those who order at the café for the first time are invited to install the COFFEE App and are incentivized to do so with rewards such as becoming a club member with a 5 percent discount on café products. Those who complete the download and visit the shop repeatedly can use the app to quickly place orders, as well as view the menu on their phone.
To make payments, customers need to set up Apple Pay, but if they have already set that up, they can make a payment via Face ID or Touch ID, or by entering a password. App Clips makes it easier, however. After tapping their phone against the NFC tag, customers can view portions of the app, such as the menu. They can place a selected product in a cart, then pay for it via Apple Pay. App Clips disappears from the device after each use, since no download is required. Each transaction with this method is typically being accomplished within approximately 15 seconds, Matsudate reports.
Daiki Matsudate and an elephant pal
Once the order is placed, café servers can view that order on the shop's dashboard, displayed on an iPad. They can choose "accept" to indicate they are fulfilling the order, then select a completed prompt once the order is finished. At that time, the café's application automatically notifies the customer of the order's completion with push notifications, such as a text message. The customers can then proceed to the counter as instructed and pick up the beverage or food.
Since the App Clips system was taken live in the fall, it has been publicized on social media. "It became a hot topic on SNS," Matsudate says, which led to local media coverage that has attracted further interest from customers. Whether the app or App Clips is employed, he adds, the service is fast. "We may have to wait a little for customers during busy hours, but I think that those who order in advance with the app and come to pick up will not wait too long." App Clips is currently available only for iOS devices. Android offers a mechanism called Instant App, but this service does not include automated payments.
In Japan, iOS has a higher share than Android. Since Kitasandō Coffee opened, Kankak has also opened Tailored Café in Tokyo's Azabujuban neighborhood, which features the same ordering system. Another café opened in Roppongi in December, and the next will open in Shibuya.
