The concept of digitalization in restaurant businesses: A researchon seafood restaurants in Ankara

With the Industry 4.0 era, technology and digitalization have gained great importance not only for sectors but also for individuals. The penetration of digitalization in all areas of life has made the digitalization of the service sector inevitable. With digitalization, the acceleration of human life has paved the way for more practical applications to be accepted in all areas of life. Faster and digital life habits have made it almost mandatory to experience various digital transformations in the food and beverage industry, as in all other sectors. The COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged at the end of 2019 and the effects of which continued as long as this research was conducted, brought along a process where people distanced themselves from each other spatially and digitalization gained greater importance both as an institutional and an individual habit. In the research, the effects of digital transformation on seafood restaurants, the extent to which seafood restaurants with a spatial cultural value are integrated into digital transformation and the outputs of digitalization in the context of these businesses are the general purpose of this research. The special purpose of the research is to reveal the predictions about the transformation of seafood restaurants as a result of the COVID-19 process and the restrictions it brings, and the future of seafood restaurants after the pandemic. In the field research part of the study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 seafood restaurant operators operating in Ankara. The interviews were conducted face-to-face considering the COVID-19 precautions and the qualitative research method was preferred in the research. When the seafood restaurants in Ankara are examined, it has been observed that they have started to do more work for digitalization, especially with the COVID-19 and pandemic period, and as a result of these studies, they can reach new customers through online ordering, advertising and promotion through social media platforms. In addition, it has been determined that being on digital platforms and using digital applications in the restaurant provide important benefits for the restaurants. It is thought that the findings obtained from the research will contribute to this field, which has not been an academic study before, in the context of industry and academia. Keywords: Seafood Restaurants, Food and Beverage Industry, Digitalization, COVID-19