New survey: Nearly 8 in 10 regular diners believe that the majority of food ordering will be handled by AI voice assistants in the next few years

Study also reveals that technology is now a key driver of satisfaction for restaurant customers

SANTA CLARA, Calif., October 26, 2023 – SoundHound AI, Inc. (Nasdaq: SOUN), a global leader in voice artificial intelligence, today revealed the findings of a new survey of regular restaurant customers, including indicators that consumers are increasingly looking for a tech-led experience from their favorite fast food and casual dining brands.

With National Breadstick Day nearly upon us (October 27), a huge 77% of survey respondents (individuals who eat at or order from restaurants at least once per month) said they believe they’ll be ordering their favorite dunkable treat – and the majority of their restaurant food – from an automated voice assistant within just a few years.

The results reveal greater consumer receptivity to recent advances in artificial intelligence, a technology the restaurant industry has turned to in the wake of post-pandemic labor shortages.

The new study also finds:

Satisfaction

  • While nearly half (47%) of restaurant visitors stated that it’s important that a restaurant uses the latest technology to enhance their experience, an analysis revealed that technology was actually one of the top three drivers of overall customer satisfaction – after (1) order accuracy and (2) food quality.
  • Additional factors affecting satisfaction included the ability to call restaurants to place an order, the speed of the drive-thru service, and being able to order from an in-restaurant kiosk instead of a person.
  • The majority of every age band between 18-58 said they feel comfortable ordering via voice AI right now – at the drive thru, over the phone, at a kiosk, and via a mobile app.

Top reasons why consumers say they’re comfortable with AI / automated food ordering

  • Faster, more efficient (51%)
  • No pressure to tip just to place an order (40%)
  • Makes restaurant employees job easier (33%)

Restaurant ordering pain points

  • Fee fatigue: Delivery app fees were the number one issue for restaurant customers (73%)
  • Tired of waiting: Other than fees, being kept waiting was the biggest pain point across most survey respondents’ favored ordering channels:
    • Walk in: Wait times (70%)
    • Drive thru: Long lines (57%)
    • Phone: Hold times (39%)

Is AI a better option?

  • Nearly two thirds (68%) of regular drive thru customers that felt uncomfortable with AI ordering said they would be willing to use it if it speeds up the process.

More survey results and analysis are available in the new white paper, The New Driver of Restaurant Customer Satisfaction: Innovation.

“This study shows that, beyond the table stakes of good food and accurate orders, more of us want a modern, efficient restaurant experience,” said Ben Bellettini, VP of Restaurant Sales at SoundHound. “There’s a clear correlation between satisfaction and the use of technology, particularly with more customers ordering for takeout and delivery. Restaurant operators can’t afford to overlook the critical role of tools like AI ordering as they look to attract and retain increasingly tech-savvy customers.”

Regional attitudes to AI
SoundHound’s survey also asked consumers about their general attitudes to artificial intelligence tools and services as a whole, and found that Southerners felt most positively:

  1. South (includes: Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas) – 60%
  2. North East (includes: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) – 57%
  3. Midwest (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas) – 51%
  4. West (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Alaska) – 59%

SoundHound offers a range of voice AI solutions for restaurants that can be deployed across multiple channels for fast, accurate ordering – including via phone, drive-thru, kiosk, and mobile app. The company’s best-in-class system easily understands customers’ natural human speech, learns any restaurant’s menu, and can perform critical tasks like processing orders, answering customer questions, and even upselling add-ons and special offers. Find out more at SoundHound.com.

The results will be discussed in more detail on SoundHound’s upcoming webinar with ChowNow. Registration is available here – Tech-Savvy Dining: What Restaurants are Missing About Customer Satisfaction.

About SoundHound AI
SoundHound (Nasdaq: SOUN), a global leader in conversational intelligence, offers voice AI solutions that let businesses offer incredible conversational experiences to their customers. Built on proprietary technology, SoundHound’s voice AI delivers best-in-class speed and accuracy in numerous languages to product creators across automotive, TV, and IoT, and to customer service industries via groundbreaking AI-driven products like Smart Answering, Smart Ordering, and Dynamic Interaction™, a real-time, multimodal customer service interface. Along with SoundHound Chat AI, a powerful voice assistant with integrated Generative AI, SoundHound powers millions of products and services, and processes billions of interactions each year for world class businesses.

About Big Village

Big Village Insights is a global research and analytics business uncovering not just the ‘what’ but the ‘why’ behind customer behavior, supporting clients’ insights needs with agile tools, CX research, branding, product innovation, data & analytics, and more. Big Village Insights is part of Bright Mountain Media. Find out more at https://big-village.com/.

Media Contact:
Fiona McEvoy
415 610-6590