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Dude, what? Is this necessary? I don't really care if a Panera employee greets me by name or not. This is weird, and total big brother stuff.
Panera Bread employees will soon be able to greet customers by name thanks to a scan of their palm. The fast food chain announced this week it will be rolling out Amazon One technology that will allow customers to link their loyalty accounts to their hand prints.
Panera's CEO said the palm scans "will make it even easier for its guests to access their rewards and have a more customized cafe experience."
For now, Panera’s starting small, with just two company-owned restaurants in its hometown of St. Louis.
“We think the payment plus loyalty identification is the secret sauce that can unlock a really personalized, warm and efficient experience for our guests in our cafes,” Panera Chief Digital Officer George Hanson told CNBC.
Panera is looking to expand the test to 10 to 20 more restaurants over the next few months, including some operated by franchisees, according to Hanson.
The palm scanners are located near the restaurant’s registers. To use them, customers need to link their loyalty program accounts to Amazon One, which they can do at home or inside the restaurant. They’ll also need to enable loyalty identification and payment for their accounts.