What if you never had to download an app to place an order? Or, better, place your order on Facebook Messenger or Whatsapp? Come Monday, Go Panda hopes to become the country’s first restaurant to go live with an automated chat bot on Facebook Messenger, which customers can use to get preferred food details, prices, and recommendations. The bot was created by a bunch of youngsters who approached Yash Chandiramani (24), founder of Go Panda, with the idea three weeks ago. “Here’s how it works: instead of downloading an application like Zomato, customers can simply “chat” with the bot on Facebook Messenger, and ask it questions like “I want something spicy under '300,” he explains. The bot will recommend 4-5 dishes that it thinks matches your requirement. Bots are an integral part of most businesses abroad, including the likes of McDonalds, wherein customers talk to an automated voice machine at the drive-in to place their order.

Why it works
“There are around a billion apps available on the market today, but the average user uses only 20-30 apps on their phones — we are competing in that small a screen space,” says KG Abhishek (23), one of the five founding members of Mpower.chat, a three-month old company that coded the chat bot. “Instant messaging proves to be a great solution in such cases, since there is no download barrier; one can reach any business directly through Facebook Messenger.” The young brains over at Mpower already had the basic structure ready, and when given the green signal by Yash, moved fast to create the Go Panda bot.