Dive Brief:

• New research from Sift finds that 40% of consumers are frustrated by the number of steps required to order food online or via mobile apps. 
• Despite consumer demand for a faster, more seamless online ordering process, even more consumers — 62% — are concerned about a data breach. 
• Among consumers' top worries are stolen payment information, account takeovers and hijacked loyalty rewards points. Almost half are concerned about stolen credit card data. 

Dive Insight:

This research underscores a major challenge for restaurant operators who are increasingly expected to provide seamless digital ordering capabilities. In an effort to meet demand quickly, many restaurants are adding such capabilities through third-party vendors, which creates more vulnerability when it comes to data breaches. 

For now, it’s clear consumers are more concerned about security than speed. This is reiterated by the Pew Research Center, which reports about half of Americans feel their personal information is less secure than it was five years ago.

There’s a reason: 64% of American adults have experienced data theft. According to Tech Republic, there have been more than 3,800 breaches in 2019, over a 50% uptick over the past four years. 

The implications for a restaurant are not only costly, but detrimental for its reputation. It costs about an average of $148 per compromised record for a company recovering from a breach, or $3.92 million on average, according to IBM. A Centrify study found 65% of data breach victims lost trust in an organization following a breach.  

There are some ways restaurant companies can be proactive against this rising threat. New technologies like automation, AI, and machine learning can help ensure private data is better protected from hackers. Hiring a security analyst could also provide more protection.

Because of the growing instances of data breaches, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 28% employment growth in the field through 2026. Other companies, like Jersey Mike’s, are developing proprietary authentication systems. 

Restaurant companies are behind when it comes to meeting the digitally-driven convenience demands of their customers. A new study from the National Restaurant Association, in partnership with Technomic, shows that 43% of consumers want to place orders via a restaurant's app, but only 18% of operators offer mobile ordering via their own app, for example. 

However, this is expected to change quickly, with predictions that digital restaurant sales will make up 30% of the industry’s overall sales by 2025. As the channel continues to grow, it is critical operators figure out how to bridge the gap between a frictionless experience and security. A slower ordering experience is easier to overcome than a massive data breach.