App lets customers take control of their order

SK Telecom has come up with an app that is designed to take the boredom out of waiting for an order in a restaurant.

The company said on Sunday that it has signed an agreement with SM Entertainment to apply its IoT technology at the recently opened SMT Seoul, an upscale five-story restaurant, located in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam, southern Seoul.

Customers visiting the restaurant will be able to get menu recommendations via their smartphones and can also place specific orders to the chef in the kitchen on how they would like their food to be served.

As well, they will be able to see how long it will take for their dish to arrive and, while waiting, they can access various music and videos of their favorite boy or girl bands.

All of the services will be available once customers’ smartphone are connected to a so-called ‘beacon bell’ via Bluetooth. The beacon technology is a development by start-up Hello Factory that has been under SK Telecom’s support program ‘T open lab.’

Additionally SK Telecom plans to apply big data technology that will provide tailored service to returning customers based on their previous menu ordering patterns.

“The IoT is a system that ultimately services convenience by connecting all objects under a single network,” said Choi Jin-sung, who heads SK Telecom’s chief technology officer. “We plan to create new customer value by connecting offline and online using SK Telecom’s locating tracking device and beacon technology.”

Kim Kyung-min, CEO of Hello Factory, said, “Soon there will be greater connections between offline stores and online services through beacon technology.”

Under the agreement SK Telecom will provide the same IoT technologies to other SMT restaurants, including one in Tokyo and another in Los Angeles that is scheduled to open later this year.

The five-story SMT Seoul opened on Jan. 21. Each floor provides different type of foods. The first two floors offer light dishes such as desserts, as well as cafes. At night, it serves Spanish tapas. Korean, Chinese and Japanese cuisines are served on the third and fourth floor while there is a roof garden on the fifth floor.

SM Entertainment has numerous famous K-pop boy and girl bands including Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, SHINee, f(x) and EXO, which have huge following not only in Seoul but also in China and other Asian countries.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]