In early 2007, mobile phone users were introduced to the limited service of texting food orders. Mobo Systems Inc., however, is aiming to permanently simplify – and standardize -the way busy people everywhere pre-purchase their fast food or hot cup of coffee.
Gomobo.com enables customers to order food on the go by sending a one-digit text message to participating restaurants. The service directly integrates with restaurants’ point-of-sale systems and users’ credit cards. In other words, if I want to order a deli sub with lettuce, tomato, and strawberries (I know, I’m weird), I will select the deli sub from a numerical list of sandwiches or food items and manually select what I want on my sub from a corresponding list of available ingredients.
To use Mobo, customers can sign up online and register their mobile number and credit card information. Customers then make a list of their food preferences at restaurants they frequent, with each assigned a one or two-digit number.
When Mobo receives an order, it instantly reroutes it to the corresponding restaurant and bills the customer’s credit card. Users can also order on Mobo’s Web site, getting a confirmation on their mobile phones. Restaurants pay GoMobo.com 10% of the sale price. What does that mean for customers? We don’t have to pay extra for the service.
As of today, only a select handful of fast food establishments use text messaging as a means for receiving orders. New mobile companies like Mobo, however, are in talks with hundreds of establishments throughout North America and the UK to begin providing service in 2008.
This service seems poised to widen more rapidly than even those of us who want our junk food faster.
