May 2021 - ENVISIONARD

Time To Move from Risky Face-to-Face Interactions to Touchless Voice AI Technology

Posted on May 25, 2021September 16, 2021 by Envisionard

For most of us, “Hey, Siri, type a message” or “Alexa, play me a song” have come to be everyday phrases as smart speakers and voice assistants have gained popularity. Voice tech and artificial intelligence experts have predicted that consumers will want to issue similar commands in physical spaces if that helps in reducing the spread of the virus.

Darin Clark, director of business development for the audio tech company Sound Hound Inc., has said that “We’ve seen a significant upsurge in companies interested at trying to reduce contact.” Consumers can now use different development platforms to add voice user interfaces to technology. This technology can be used in cars to ovens. This helps companies create user experiences that allow the consumers to place orders, shop, or pay without touching screens or interacting with employees directly.

Voice technology can also be used to recommend brands to shoppers and consumers, give directions around stores, execute checkouts, place orders, create shopping lists, and more, which potentially reduces the requirement for human interaction in stores as the pandemic has kept safety concerns on top of the minds of the consumers.

Businesses have recently been primarily interested in letting people use voice technology to search their brand catalogs to check for in-store products. Meanwhile, restaurants and hospitality need to rethink integrating voice technology into their in-store, store-front, and drive-through experiences, allowing consumers to place an order without touching any buttons.

Tinglong Dai, an associate professor of operations management and business analytics at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, said that “People are very familiar with voice tech in a consumer setting, but the application for businesses remains limited.” According to him, the most potential obstacle to upscale the usage of voice technology still stands to be the discomfort consumers might face while making the shift. Many consumers prefer human assistance over voice tech assistance in specific spaces, making it a task to increase Voice Tech and AI usage in our day-to-day lives.

People are often found to be most comfortable using voice tech in grocery stores and fast-food restaurants. A lot of people have been seen getting cozy with conversational AI at restaurants and grocery stores.

The younger generations have adapted to intelligent speakers and conversational AI, but the older peers are yet to get comfortable with it, and soon it will be a natural companion for young and old. The Voice tech companies have been looking to delve deeper into more personalized voice assistants to give consumers a sense of belonging. The pandemic has exposed many of us to alienation, and the need for a customized assistant and personalized experience is at an all-time high. Amealio is bridging the gap between consumers and Voice AI for F&B and Hospitality and transforming it into a hyper-personalized experience marketplace, making ordering in, making a request, seating, dining, and ordering to payment out more feasible and seamlessly accessible.

Now that F&B and Hospitality in the US and many other places are coming back up in a V-shaped recovery model, they are looking to move forward quickly amidst the pandemic and create tremendous value for their brands and newer customer engagement models. The bottom line remains that the move to voice AI and blend of technology is inevitable and the only way forward from here on.

5 Changing Trends in the F&B Industry!

Posted on May 22, 2021September 16, 2021 by Envisionard

Every nook and cranny of the F&B industry has seen a drastic change post the pandemic. When something this huge, strikes the world, it is only reasonable to assume that things need to be changed and with a bottom up approach. There are so many new ways to curb the effects of the pandemic over the F&B industry. The best way ahead is to leave trends that don’t work in the past. Forgetting our woes and looking forward to a cheerful future is what we all need right now. After a complete shutdown, the F&B industry is getting back on its feet again. Let’s take a look at the major changes of the decade that the industry and the consumers are gearing up for. These trends are expected to dominate the industry and begin the reign of the New Normal.

Digital Menu:
Restaurants have opened back but the footfall has fallen drastically. Who do we hold responsible? People are reluctant to dine out most of the times because of the obvious health and safety concerns. In such times, Digital Menus have become a great hit. Ensuring physical distancing within the restaurant is one of the most necessary yet difficult tasks. In such a situation, customers being able to access the menu on a screen helps decrease the physical contact. We’ve already moved towards an era of digital menus, digital payments, online feedbacks, etc. These measures have already infiltrated 50% of the market and can exponentially grow towards the end of the year. With Amealio, you can peruse through the menu from the safety of your car while you wait for your table confirmation, saving you both time and the risk of infection.
Takeaway and Delivery Services:
Almost all the restaurants are looking at expanding their services to takeout and delivery services. Most of them have tied up with food delivery services. These services have not only helped implement better physical distancing but also ensured more employment for people who have been displaced out of jobs. This is a great opportunity for restaurants to stay afloat amid strict physical distancing norms. Amealio not only allows you to order takeaway with easy but does so with voice technology. You can actually hold a conversation with your voice assistant as if you are talking to a waiter at the restaurant. Isn’t it a little fun as well? Hassle free and customized food experience is something we all crave, don’t we?
Budding Home Chefs:
The pandemic has led to an exponential increase in the demand for home cooked food subsequently affecting the demand for home-based cooks and bakeries. What’s best about this is these cooks have found an avenue to showcase their talent while making money on the side. This has also helped in ensuring the norms of physical distancing as the food is usually delivered to your doorstep. Who would have thought 5 years ago that you could enjoy food that gives you a taste of home and is delivered to you?
Cloud Kitchens:
Another highly sought-after advancement is that in cloud kitchens. Now, you might wonder what’s the concept of cloud kitchens? Here, let me explain; Cloud kitchen, also called Ghost Kitchen is a place where food is prepared and is delivered at doorsteps via online orders through calls and online ordering platforms. These restaurants do not usually have physical outlets for people to dine out at. At present, it is deduced that Cloud kitchens hold 13% of the market shares and are expected to grow up to 30% by the end of this year.
Healthier Food Choices:
Right in the middle of a pandemic that has caused us so many lives, it is only fair to assume that most of us have already started to move towards a healthier living and eating paradigm. The shift from comfort foods to more vegetarian or vegan options has opened doors for a whole new market. This has also opened another avenue for the industry in the form of staycation and workcation. People are booking local hotels to have some quality time with loved ones or simply enjoy room service while working.
Now, these are some changes we can look forward to in 2021. The life after a pandemic is that of comfort, convenience, health, and safety. No one is willing to compromise on any of the factors and they shouldn’t. Amealio, as an application, inculcates most of the changing trends and more. From a touchless experience to customized service, what else do we need, the game-changing rule of the 21st century is to keep adapting to change. Now, there’s not much that can be done with regard to the pandemic but one can always one-up the precautionary methods. After all, prevention is better than cure. One of the biggest benefits of moving to a digital setup is also the transparency that comes with it. With people’s inhibitions about the F&B industry and the reservations post-pandemic, the more transparent your business, the better outcome. Are we ready for the changes that await us?

A responsible way of doing business is all about creating social impact!

Posted on May 15, 2021September 16, 2021 by Envisionard

How often have we heard that the key to a successful business or enterprise is through impact creation? Well, quite a lot. Keeping the environment safe and helping uplift society is a great way forward. The vision might differ from people to people, but the core idea should always have a social impact. The shift from Corporate social responsibility just existing to become a critical factor in the workings of a company is remarkable.

Entrepreneurs have begun to understand the need for a better societal setup and have started responding in their own ways. Another essential aspect of a responsible business is aligning your vision with strategic goals and giving you a competitive advantage. There are a few more benefits of responsible business practices.

Increase the efficiency of the employees and motivate them to learn a new set of skills and talent. This also helps them to be better and foster the community they are working in. They can leverage core skills and talents as a means to their end. The idea behind a successful company is to set a strategic goal to empower their teams.
Companies have the resources and means to create a more significant impact. Hence, many people tend to trust in those companies more than individuals. Through responsible business and inclusive growth methods, they can lead to a more cohesive society and contribute to a more sustainable economic system.
Enterprises in the current times have recognized the sheer potential of responsible business to provide benefits in terms of access to capital, cost savings, risk management, employee satisfaction, sustainable operations, ability to innovate, and most importantly, customer relationships all sprout from people in the community.

What Practices are popular amongst responsible businesses?

The first step to practicing responsible business is eliminating negative impact. This impact can be in terms of environment, employee support, sustainability. The stakeholders play a vital role in implementing positive practices at workspaces. Businesses have started hiring consultant firms on how to ease up the procedure and create sustainable impact. There is substantial research on the development of environmentally or socially viable business options. These tools have proven to be helpful in many ways.

At Amealio, we target the sections of society that can be benefitted from our business model and have been focusing on those key areas. Our idea is to create an environment for local communities that creates a ripple effect through our initiative Udbhav and reach out to as many people as possible. It is not only about helping a few people but making it a way of life.

For this reason, we plan to involve the students, youth, and community members in giving back activities and events to cultivate that giving back is not just in the way of money but in imparting a variety of skills and talents to the impoverished. Thus, creating awareness in the next generation citizens.

It is a belief that the prosperity of any business is directly proportional to its impact on society. The idea is a multiplier effect so that when companies hold hands or decide to come together to work on a cause, the result is likely to influence a larger group of people.

Michael Porter, Faculty at Harvard Business School, has shared his model of ‘creating shared value.’ According to this model, businesses need to rethink capitalism to solve contemporary issues while creating value. This can be achieved through identifying new markets and creating innovative business models.

Kate Raworth’s ‘Doughnut Model’ is another example of how business can operate in “the safe and just space for humanity.” She explains this in seven steps; Change the goal, See the Big Picture, Nurture Human Nature, Get Savvy with Systems, Design to Distribute, Create to Regenerate, Be Agnostic about Growth.

How do we measure the impact and rate models?

Our platform is designed to crowdsource funds through various activities on the app and put the funds to use in the social give-back program, apart from our employees’ contributions. Our referral programs for users so that each qualified referral and download of the app instead of giving cashback, etc. We contribute that referral towards the social initiative and provide it to someone in need. That Rs 50 of referral for someone in need could mean a lot. Spreading the word could make a world of difference in someone’s life.

This is the best way of extending help to people in need.

Managing and measuring impact is the most critical component for our business to understand the positive and negative reactions of it on the people and world we live in.

Amealio focuses on helping F&B and Hospitality businesses with ease of doing business by putting Voice, AI, and mobile technology to use and create sustainable impact. Our team is inspired by the idea of giving back to society. You can also be a part of it through our initiatives and help build a better world for the generations to come.