The festive season is usually the most lucrative time of year for the hospitality industry, but Coronavirus seems to have other plans... The new lockdown enforcements put in place by the government (starting on Thursday 5th November) state that various businesses must close. Hospitality venues like restaurants, bars and pubs must close, but can still provide takeaway and delivery services.
In a recent government update, pubs have been told that they are allowed to sell takeaway alcohol. This means that pre-ordered alcohol can be collected by and delivered to customers. They are not allowed to enter the premises, and must order their drink online, by phone or by text message. Pub owners feared that they would have to pour millions of pints of ale down the drain (as open kegs would go off), so this new legislation (Exemption 17) comes as good news for the community. However, pubs continue to fight to sell alcohol in the same way as an off-licence:
"Supermarkets and off-licences can still sell alcohol, so this is grossly unfair on pubs with off-licences. It remains the case that to help pubs and brewers survive, and to stop up to 7.5 million pints from being wasted, the government needs to give pubs the same ability to sell off-licence alcohol as it did in the first lockdown."
- Emma McClarkin, Chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended by a month meaning that employees will continue to be paid at least 80% of their salary, up to £2500 a month, under the Furlough Scheme. Employers will now only be asked to pay National insurance and Pension contributions for their staff during November. To find out more about Business Grants, eligibility, and more up-to-date information, click here to be redirected to the government website.
As the government continues to allow food and drink delivery/collection, consider ways in which you can set up your restaurant, bar, pub or cafe in accordance to these Covid guidlines. Functioning as a takeaway may be a viable option for your business during the lockdown period.
With a high 4.9 star rating on Trustpilot, Cups Direct have a great selection of high quality products, such as tumblers and food packaging that could help you prepare to open as a takeway.
Packaging Environmental also provide food and drinks packaging, but with a focus on supporting small businesses, such as independant coffee shops. They are the self-proclaimed leading suppliers of biodegradable, compostable and recycled eco packaging. Branding and customisation is an option for the packaging that they offer - Printing your company logo on the cups that you send out to customers could help with brand awareness.
Maybe you want to sell you beer by the bottle? Ideon supply a range of plastic and glass drink containers, such as the traditional beer, cider and larger bottles. Maybe you want to try the glass swing top bottles which are quick to seal, withstand high levels of carbination, are aesthetically pleasing and are good at preserving beer!
We understand the issues hospitality is facing due to the new lockdown rules. SPARK prodcuts are programmed with industry leading technologies that can help your business adapt during the pandemic. Whether you are considering setting up your business to perform in a takeaway capacity, or want to use the lockdown as an opportunity to upgrade some of your essential software and hardware, we have advice to help you. SPARK has 3 products that could help you...
Our mobile self ordering software allows customers to order for collection straight from their phones, no need to download an app. Orders are sent automatically through to the kitchen, making it a quick, easy, and efficient option. The customer will specify a collection time from the comfort of their home, will be notified when its ready, and then drive over and collect! This will help limit the contact between people and adhere to government guidelines.
SPARK Terminals have a built in Takeaway function that allows you to process orders for collection and delivery. When a returning customer comes to order from your company, you can search for their details, such as name, phone number and email address on the CRM database (which comes as a standard on all of our terminals). When you search for a customer's name, the other details will automatcally populate, allowing you to speed up the ordering process!
With the delivery details feature, you are able to add delivery notes, such as "Please deliver to the back door", which will come in handy when you want to create social distance between customer and staff. Our Post Code search enables you to quickly and accurately search for the customer's address. Type in the postcode and select the full address from the 'Address Look up' box . This prevents you from having to type out the whole address - streamlining the delivery location detailling process.
Utilising the takeaway mode on our SPARK Terminal enables you to take more orders during service and cuts down the chances of orders going missing or being unreadable.
Our Kitchen Display System offers a range of operation modes that can adapt to the needs of different businesses. To read more about the KDS and how it can increase profit, staff productivity and service efficiency, click here. The Calling Screen Display mode allows you to notify customers when orders are ready - much like what you would see in McDonalds for example! It is perfect for takeaways and helps you to keep the customer collection quick and easy. The KDS auto-arranges tickets and displays them clearly on the screen with an easy to use, stylish and modern design. You have both 'light' and 'dark' visual modes depending on your preference.
According to the Prime Minister, the lockdown will be lifted after one month on the 2nd December. England joins other European countries that have announced similar lockdown measures, such as Germany and France who plan to lift restrictions in early December. Does this mean that there is hope that bars, pubs and restaurants might be able to reopen in time for the Christmas and New years months? One thing is for certain, everyone will be excited to welcome in the new year and say goodbye to the chaos of 2020..!
Hit the ground running in 2021 by upgrading to SPARK EPOS. Use the lockdown as a chance to change your current epos system. SPARK offers a range of purpose built hardware that is efficient, modern and innovative such as our Dual Screen Terminals, Standard Terminals, Handheld Devices and KDS. We also have a selection of software that can help improve the organisation of your business. Two examples of this would be our Reservations package and Self Ordering feature (which was meantioned earlier on in the blog).
It is likely that post-lockdown customers will want to book tables before venturing out of the house, making sure that they have a guaranteed space. A good reservation system will help you increase footfall when restrictions are lifted. SPARK Reservation's features allow you to clearly organise and structure bookings.
You can view your bookings by list, table plan or timeline.
Eliminate no-shows with deposit control.
Manage bookings from any device, anywhere!
Increase bookings and drive traffic to your website with our integration tool.
Staff and guests can see the real-time availability of tables.
Track & analyse sales data and forecast more efficiently with the reservations dashboard.
Our Reservations package is competitively priced at £29 a month. We have no hidden fees and take zero commision for bookings. Take control, plan more effectively and optimise profitability! Find out more by clicking here.
With Coronavirus surviving on surfaces for up to 72 hours, it's time to cut down on contact-points by ditching the paper menus and implementing a self ordering system that customers can access via their phones. Research show customer's bills can increase by 30% when they order online. Current consumers demand convenience, and this why self ordering has become so popular in recent times! 45% of consumers have stated that offering a mobile ordering loyalty program would encourage them to use online ordering services more often. SPARK's self ordering software includes customer loyalty features, reviews, membership, product offers and more.
As we draw closer to Chirstmas, customers could purcahse a voucher via the self ordering platform and digitally gift it to a loved one - supporting local business and encouraging online spending. This can be used for take away, making it suitable for pandemic restrictions, and for future on-site visits!
Want to know more about self ordering? Click here to enquire more from a SPARK team member.
Welcome in the new year with an EPOS system that keeps up with the times.
We hope that 2021 brings everyone more joy!
Stay safe.
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