The rise of mobile payments is changing the way we do business. Research from Deloitte found that 88 per cent of Australians owned a smartphone in 2017, with the increasing availability of mobile payment technologies enabling a 25 per cent growth in mobile purchasing since 2016.

Businesses are now forced to meet the customer “where they are”, and increasingly this means being available on their phone. To remain competitive, many retailers are offering in-app payments as an alternative to paying in store or online.

For many customers this is a time-saving exercise. People love to adopt technologies that offer convenience and fit smoothly into their daily routine, particularly when it means they can skip ahead of the queue by ordering in advance.

Mobile payment technology also provides huge advantages to businesses as in-app payments streamline the processing of customer transactions and increases operational efficiency.

Where food meets tech

Few food retailers are as technologically-savvy as Guzman y Gomez. The Mexican fast food chain has recently launched a drone delivery service with Project Wing, launched a very successful viral social media campaign (#bringCalhome) and was also one of the first Braintree merchants to integrate Apple Pay and the first for Android Pay.

“Guzman y Gomez is reinventing fast food for the 21st century and technology is at the heart of our strategy,” said Shahrooz Chowdhury, the company’s Chief Digital Officer.

For Guzman y Gomez, the aim is to stay ahead of the trend and remain competitive in a market where customers are becoming more difficult to retain. Seamless payments form a big part of this strategy.

“One of our challenges is ensuring consistency in online and offline transactions. Offering digital wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay helps by providing our guests with ubiquitous methods of payment across both app and in store,” said Chowdhury.

“We believe in empowering our guests to pay the way they want and, in doing so, making the digital experience simpler and easier. This drives loyalty, repeat behaviour and higher average order values.”

Simple to build, simple to use

Braintree, a PayPal service, forms a big part of Guzman y Gomez’s future strategy. Braintree’s technology, enables the integration of digital wallets such as PayPal, Apple Pay and Android Pay within a merchant’s mobile app with just a few lines of code.

“Technology is what sets us apart from our competitors. Our in-house operating platform is one of the fastest globally, capable of over 450 transactions an hour or up to 185,000 burritos sold in a day across the network. We use best-in-breed technology to help us stay ahead of the curve and meet customer demands,” said Chowdhury.

Currently, Guzman y Gomez are leading the industry for the portion of orders being placed via their internally built order ahead and loyalty app. The simplicity of Braintree means that any business can easily offer their customers a diverse range of payment methods with a secure, trusted payment system.

This article originally appeared on Business Insider. Read the original here.

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