July 4th 2020 was the day hospitality businesses reopened their doors and the British public returned to their favourite pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes to eat and drink post lockdown.
Whilst I was initially hesitant to return myself due to not wanting to be in overcrowded places, I did last week go to a pub, visit a cafe and eat and drink in an outdoor beer garden. I was curious to see how the new guidelines for the hospitality industry would impact businesses who have reopened and how they would go about their trade.
Hospitality businesses now so more than ever, have a duty of care to not only their customers but also their staff and their local community. Hospitality venues have become the breeding grounds for a second wave of Covid-19 in local communities and will continue to be, if social distancing and regular cleaning schedules are not managed effectively.
Embracing modern technology is the surefire way to make life easier for businesses in today’s hospitality industry and ultimately make customers feel safe by reducing unnecessary physical touch points.
One way businesses can utilise technology to reduce physical touch points in venues is through digital menus and mobile self ordering from tables. Mobile self-ordering and payments is a fantastic way for a business to not only reduce its costs and labour, but importantly also reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission by having fewer contact points between customers and waiting staff.
With tableside mobile self-ordering and payments, a business can guarantee a substantial reduction in staff meandering through the venue waiting tables which is ultimately going to help everybody feel more comfortable and safer.
“So it’s safe and sensible, but how is it more profitable?” - I hear you ask!
Well, another huge benefit of mobile self-ordering is studies have shown a proven increase in spend-per-head by up to 30%!
- Reduced labour costs ✔️
- Reduced menu replacement costs ✔️
- Reduced costs in notepads and or ordering tablets ✔️
- Increased accuracy of customer orders ✔️
- Increased efficiency / speed of customer service and table turnover ✔️
- Increased spend per order through up selling prompts ✔️
The hospitality industry we find ourselves in today is the new normal, but businesses can still prosper and the best way to do this is by embracing modern technology.
Socially responsible products built with Covid-19 safety in mind such as the SPARK Covid Secure App and the SPARK customer self-ordering app enable businesses to re-open safely, sensibly and profitably following the Coronavirus lockdown.
