As restaurants seek to bounce back after COVID disruption, controlling costs and keeping guests happy, and ready to return, has never been more important. That means ensuring fast, convenient and smooth service finished off with a great checkout experience.
Having to wait ages to order, settle a bill or tackle a payment query not only frustrates diners, but it also leads to inefficiency that saps restaurant profit. It’s why having fast and flexible point-of-sale (POS) devices that are right for your food and drinks business should be high on your menu of priorities.
Not only can a great payment device empower your staff, but it can also help you tackle some of the big operational challenges facing restaurants, that want to be more competitive, increase revenue and drive higher loyalty.
So, what are some of the key operational challenges for 2022?
Attracting diners and driving loyalty
The cost-of-living crisis is leading consumers to cut back on dining out. Restaurants must deliver a great end-to-end service to stay competitive and justify the ‘eating-out’ expense, to ensure good reviews and social endorsements, and to keep customers coming back for more.
Increasing table returns and maintaining profit
Increasing staff, facility and supply costs are eating into restaurant profit. To offset this, businesses need to increase table returns. They can do this by encouraging guests to spend more, speeding table turnover and increasing the number of sittings per day.
Preventing customer frustration points
No matter how good the food, if the service is poor or there are delays and frustrations, your guests may not return. Not only that they may post a bad review on social and put other customers off visiting your venue.
High staff turnaround
44% of restaurant employees change jobs every year[1]. A revolving door culture often leaves restaurants short staffed or reliant on young and inexperienced staff. It’s important that accepting payments is as straightforward for staff as it is for customers.
POS devices are the front line in table productivity and help smash pain points
Android-based mobile POS devices with integrated apps are the ultimate in convenience whatever way your customers want to pay – by card, digital wallet, mobile or alternative payments.
Providing one-stop order and pay at the table, they allow service staff to scan menu barcodes, input orders, and provide value added services like split bill for easy group payments. Integrated systems allow orders to be sent automatically from front of house to kitchen and bar teams for faster processing.
Speedier service and less wasted effort, lets staff spend more time upselling to customers and helps them turn tables round quicker to achieve multiple sittings per service. By automating processes there are also less errors and bill queries.
Payment devices that are easy to use – with intuitive interfaces, effortless connectivity and simple charging (if mobile) – also make training and boarding new staff much easier staff and managers.
Castles has a payment solution for all types of dining experience
At Castles, our goal is to create simple, smart and secure payment solutions that provide mobility and flexibility for a diverse range of businesses, including restaurants.
No matter what your operating model – dining-in, fast food, delivery or order online and pay on collection – we have a range of android mobile POS devices that help boost productivity, increase table turnaround and free staff to deliver what every diner wants – great service.
And the better the customer experience, the higher the tip and the happier your team.