Virtual Restaurants are also known as Ghost restaurants. They are restaurants that offer only delivery services to their customers. As technology advances, more virtual restaurants have emerged. That indicates that technology plays a very crucial role in the operation of virtual restaurants. Without any technological tools, virtual restaurants would not be in a position to operate. The consumers choose the food that they want after looking at the menu. Afterward, they checkoff and the food is delivered to their door by third-party partners.
There are several changes that are occurring in the world today. This changes have promoted the need for virtue restaurants. Unlike the past, today the number of house wives have reduced significantly. Therefore, there is no one who is left at home to cook. When all the members of the family come home tired, the only option they have is ordering food from virtue restaurants. That has increased the need for the virtue restaurants as the demand increases.
Technology plays a big role in enabling effective working of the virtue restaurants. To begin with, technology has made it possible for the online platforms where customers interact with virtual restaurants to be created. Additionally, it has only enabled the virtual restaurants to market themselves through various digital channels. Technology has promoted the effective and efficient operations of the virtue restaurants.
Statement of a problem
This study will use both secondary and primary data to identify the magnitude of the benefits that technology has on virtual restaurants. The types of technology that have been used to ensure that virtual restaurant are a success will also be investigated. That will give a clear picture of how technology impacts virtual restaurants and which technologies impact them positively and negatively. Moreover, any threats that technology might have on virtual restaurants will also be identified.
Research Objectives
The objectives will hep to achieve the research aims and what the research should achieve at the end of it all. The reserach objectives will be used to formulate the research questions. The research objectives will be derived form the benefits that technology has has on virtual restaurants.
General research objective
To determine how technology complements the main purpose of virtual restaurants.
This research objective will help the study in identifying the overall impact that technology has on virtual restaurants. Technology is one of the main components of virtual restaurants thus it is essential to find out how it affects them.
Specific research questions
To evaluate how technology can be used to improve time management in the virtual restaurants technology.
To identify how technology increases the convenience of owners and consumers in the virtual restaurants industry.
To evaluate how technology has increased the effectiveness and efficiency of virtual restaurants.
To identify and analyze the threats that technology has presented to virtual restaurants.
Research questions
The research questions will be derived from the research objectives
General research question
How does technology compliment virtual restaurants?
Specific research questions
How does technology impact time management in the virtual restaurants industry?
How does technology enhance convenience for consumers in the virtual restaurant industry?
How has technology impacted the effectiveness and efficiency of virtual restaurants?
What threats does technology pose to virtual restaurants?
Literature Review
In this section, studies that have been conducted before concerning the topic will be analyzed. The studies will be arranged depending on the themes that they portray. That will be used as a guiding tool for the research. Through the literature review, areas that can be investigated in the future may also be identified.
Thamaraiselvan et al. (2019) investigated how the digital food delivery apps have revolutionized the food industry in India. According to the research, food delivery apps are one of the fast-growing e-commerce platforms globally. That has given consumers the a variety to choose from. They can choose the cuisines that they want to buy at the comfort of their homes from any food delivering app and have the food delivered at their door step. Some of the advantages that make it convenient for the customers are the multiple payment options and the lack of minimum order value. The market has grown incredibly fast in the urban areas whereby most people have smart phone devices.
Ahn andSeo (2018) investigated how consumers interact with technology in virtual markets. According to the study, technology can be harnessed by the business to make their services better. That is through the collection of data from companies. Out of the customers that were part of the study, most agreed that they leave reviews when they buy food on virtual restaurants. That is one source of customer data that should be harnessed by businesses. That will enable the virtual restaurants to improve their services thus increasing customer satisfaction. Most customers agreed that the services offered by the virtual restaurants are of high quality due to high competition from other virtual restaurants and fast food restaurants which have already adopted the food delivery service.
Snyder (2020) investigates how the rise of ghost restaurants are shaping the dining economy. As the demand for food has skyrocketed, some entrepreneurs have seen the opportunity of ghosts restaurants and they have actualized them. Through ghost restaurants, numerous costs can be saved ranging from the cost of renting a premise, busing equipment and payroll costs. Ghost restaurants operate on A la carte menu whereby food is prepared when a customer orders it. That prevents wastage of food thus saving the virtual restaurant more costs.
According to Khan (2020), although technology has played a big role in promoting virtual restaurants, it has also promoted some disruptions. The study investigates the disruptions that have been caused by technology from the transition of the traditional restaurant setting to the virtual technologies. The aim of the study is to come up with methods that may be used to mitigate such disruptions. One of the disruptions that is identified in the study is network breakdowns. Such breakdowns result to poor service delivery t the customers. Additionally, the virtual restaurants are prevalent to cyber attack. Such attacks pose a risk of exposing the personal data of their customers. Technology has also resulted to collateral disruption of service delivery.
Methodology
The methodology indicates the proposed data collected and data analysis techniques
Proposed Sample Design
A sample design is a framework that is used in selecting the survey sample and affects the other aspects of the survey as well. In this research, several steps will be used in the sampling process. To begin with, the virtual restaurants in the US will be identified. That will help in coming up with a population of the available virtual restaurants in the US. After that, the most common virtual restaurants and those that have been in the market for a longer period will be identified. That will form the sample for the research. Emails will be sent to all of the virtual restaurants that will be in the sample requesting them to fill a questionnaire.
Proposed Data Collection technique
The research study will use both secondary and primary data. That will ensure that the study captures the correct results thus increasing its statistical power.
The data collection method that will be used to collect primary data is through the use of open-ended questionnaires. The questionnaires will be drafted and sent to the managers of the virtual restaurants identified so that they may answer them. Taking part in the study will be voluntary and only those managers that are willing to take part in the study will fill the questionnaires.
The secondary data will be collected from the previous similar studies that have been carried on the topic. The primary data collected in this study will be compared with the secondary data to look for any similarities. A systematic review will be conducted from the previous studies thus coming up with conclusions about the topic at hand.
Proposed Analysis Plan
Before conducting the analysis, the data collected will be verified for its validity. The secondary data will be analyzed to see where it suits and answers the research questions used in the study. The primary data will be collected from questionnaires thus it has a high validity level. If any answers are not understandable, the respective managers will be contacted to clarify on the answers.
Since the data used in this study is qualitative data, it will be analyzed by classifying the data in different categories. That will help identify the impacts of technology on the virtual restaurants.
