Consistently practicing the fundamentals is mission critical to your success as a luxury real estate marketing professional. If you want to be a market leader you also need to keep abreast of trends.

As brand strategists we are constantly researching, not only what is currently trending but also what is about to go mainstream.  That way we are able to advise our clients to stay ahead of the curve.

Recently, we participated in a test of the mobile pay app for the Cheesecake Factory.  Their closest restaurant to Santa Barbara, in Thousand Oaks, (forty-minutes away) was the testing site for the app. You can download it in Google Play or the Apple Store. Participants were offered a complimentary slice of cheesecake.

We were wondering how restaurants were going to incorporate secure mobile pay options like Apple Pay or Android Pay because many guests like to split the check with their friends.  They thought of this, and also included a way to add a tip using a slide bar to increase or decrease the default 18% tip (no calculations needed). After a 3 second fingerprint scan on our phone (no signature required), a paperless receipt was emailed. Very cool!

Will every restaurant need an app to offer mobile payments, given the split check and tip component that is not part of purchasing other products or services? It is going to be interesting to see how this new trend unfolds. 

Tune into what is trending. Stay ahead of the wave if you want to be a market leader.

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel- 

ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.