From restaurant visit to restaurant experience: why playing together sticks with you

Why do we still remember some restaurant visits years later, while others are barely remembered after a week? Food obviously plays an important role. As does service. But a restaurant evening consists of more than that.

Who were you with? Did you laugh? Did something unexpected happen? Was it enjoyable? Did you have something to talk about? It's precisely this social and emotional part of a visit that partly determines how people remember the evening. And that's exactly where TablePlay tries to add value.

From waiting to experiencing something together

A table without activity can become relatively quiet during a waiting period. People pick up their phones. Everyone looks at their own screen.

TablePlay uses that same phone to get people communicating with each other again. Who knows the answer? Which option do we choose? Who plays the next round? Can we beat table 8? What's on the scoreboard?

Technology isn't used here to drive people further apart, but as a reason to do something together.

Research into games in restaurants is positive

Research into the use of board games in restaurants shows a particularly relevant picture. Participants reported, among other things:

• more social interaction
• more relaxation
• more engagement
• a less negative experience of waiting
• and a more positive overall restaurant experience

That's almost exactly the mechanism on which TablePlay is built. Except with TablePlay, a restaurant doesn't need to manage a games cupboard, look for missing pieces, or set games up again after every table. The smartphone becomes the game board.

Why tournaments go a step further

An ordinary game connects the people at one table. A TablePlay tournament can connect different tables with each other. Suddenly you're not just eating with four friends. You're table 14, and table 9 is three points ahead of you.

That creates competition, humour and conversations that would never have arisen without the tournament. An unfamiliar table can temporarily become an opponent. A waiter might ask who's in the lead. The whole room can follow the final.

This turns TablePlay from a pastime into part of the venue's atmosphere.

Up to 30% more positive restaurant experience

That's exactly why we apply up to 30% more positive restaurant experience for a strong scenario. That's broader than customer satisfaction. Restaurant experience involves things such as conviviality, entertainment, social interaction, perceived waiting time, atmosphere, and how much enjoyment someone experiences during the visit.

TablePlay cannot determine how the food tastes. But it can influence a significant part of what happens around the food.

A better experience can increase satisfaction

That experience then has a knock-on effect. When waiting feels less annoying, people talk to each other more and something enjoyable happens during the evening, it makes sense that overall satisfaction with the visit can also improve.

That's why, within the strong TablePlay scenario, we calculate with up to 25% higher guest satisfaction. Here too, this is a target that ultimately needs to be confirmed with real guest measurements, for example by asking players and non-players the exact same satisfaction question after their visit.

A memory gives an extra reason to come back

A restaurant where someone has eaten well can be attractive for a future visit. A restaurant where someone has eaten well AND had an enjoyable evening may have an extra advantage.

TablePlay can also offer recurring content. A different quiz. A new tournament. A monthly leaderboard. A rematch. A new first place. As a result, the next visit doesn't have to be exactly the same as the last.

That's why we apply up to 30% higher return intention in the strong scenario. Not because every guest automatically comes back for TablePlay, but because TablePlay can add an extra reason to visit the restaurant.

People talk about events

This might ultimately be the most interesting effect of all. People rarely tell each other that they sat at a table for 73 minutes. They tell:

• "My dad thought Madonna was from Australia."
• "We beat all the other tables."
• "We lost the final by one question."
• "We need to go back there for a rematch."

Those are stories. And stories are the basis of word-of-mouth advertising. That's why a restaurant with TablePlay can potentially create more than a satisfied guest. It can create a guest who has something to talk about at home.

Within our strong scenario, we therefore calculate with up to 40% more positive word-of-mouth advertising. It's perhaps the most valuable long-term metric of the four. Because when an existing guest convinces others to visit the same venue, reach is created for which the restaurant hasn't had to pay any advertising costs.

Want to see what there is to play? Check out all games or view the prices.