This file photo, taken March 18, 2022, shows citizens having lunch at a restaurant in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Seniors are struggling with the increasing number of restaurants taking orders exclusively through apps or social media platforms, catering to the high demand from the younger generation in certain areas.
A 54-year-old individual surnamed Baek had to leave a famous macaron store in Seoul’s Gangnam District empty-handed because the store required customers to place pre-orders through Instagram.
“I’m sure that even among young people there must be quite a few who don’t use social media apps. This is just unfair,” Baek said.
Another individual, 54-year-old Yoo, said that some restaurants “don’t even provide the simplest means of explanation when they are contacted by phone.”
“We want to try out these ‘hot’ places too, but now I just feel left out,” Yoo said.
Restaurants say they have no intention of excluding certain generations of customers. The reservation apps are used simply to prevent no-shows.
Some experts say this newly rising trend is part of a grand marketing strategy of raising the value of the restaurant by making reservations more difficult.
“It is well-known in the study of business administration that this model of focusing on a limited spectrum of customers while excluding others won’t last long,” said Shin Min-soo, a business management professor at Hanyang University.
“It is socially inappropriate for restaurants to neglect senior customers, especially when the country’s population is aging.”
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
