The new age of hospitality

Online ordering, e-commerce, contactless order and payment systems have all become vital in enabling trading to continue in the wake of the response to Covid, in the process helping to reshape the nature of hospitality itself.

ORDER AND PAY

With the e ects of COVID-19 being felt far and wide, purchasing online has become increasingly popular, and the hospitality sector is no exception. Restaurants and pubs have been adjusting the way they work to make dining-in, in particular, a safer experience. This has seen a rise in the use of mobile and online ordering systems, where customers rely on their phone to order and pay their bill at the table.

Apple Pay, for example - the mobile and digital wallet service - has now been launched at Pizza Hut restaurants across the country as part of their Order and Pay at Table facility. As one of only a handful of merchant service companies to o er Apple Pay online in the UK, the pizza brand’s payment solution provider, Swipen (www.swipen. co.uk), reported that on the very rst day, almost 30% of Pizza Hut customers preferred to pay for their order using Apple Pay.

One of the services o ered by Swipen is Order and Pay at Table via an app or webpage. In partnership with Adactus – a tech company specialising in innovative technology solutions - Swipen jointly launched Pizza Hut’s ordernow.pizza. Not only can Pizza Hut customers enjoy a socially distanced, quick and easy ordering system from the comfort of their table, but they can also pay securely through the site with a number of

options, including Apple Pay.

“This pandemic has brought the future of food ordering forward – it is here now. Dine-in guests appreciate the safety and control that Order at Table o ers, and in partnership with Swipen, we provide a solution with a proven track record,” says Scott Muncaster from Adactus.

Swipen’s Order and Pay at Table services can cater to all sizes of business, from large chains, like Pizza Hut, to individual pubs and restaurants, both for dining in and takeaway. Menu Connect is a technology provider of secure integrated order and pay software, and specialises in URLbased platforms. In partnership with Swipen, they o er robust, intuitive and a ordable web platforms.

“We remove the need for customers to download yet more applications,” says Neil Westwater from Menu Connect. “URL systems as opposed to downloadable apps are simpler to set up, you can make changes to your menu or pricing quickly and easily, and it’s fully customisable.”

It certainly seems worth the e ort. Restaurant management software company, Upserve, for example, have discovered that 60% of restaurants launching mobile ordering capabilities have reported a marked increase in sales, and pizza chains in particular say that the average online order is 18% larger than those placed over the phone.

The team behind Swipen have over 50 years combined experience within the industry, and their latest o ering has been to bring Apple Pay to Pizza Hut’s mobile ordering system, together with their technology partner, Cardstream.

“Apple Pay adds tremendous value to the online checkout experience, and we’re delighted to be able to o er it at a substantially lower cost,” says Fraser Mitchell, managing director of Swipen. “Our partnership with Cardstream has allowed us to accelerate the development of this new, exciting and cost-e ective payment o ering.”

It appears that Apple Pay will also be increasingly popular over the next ve years as it o ers a frictionless and convenient method of payment - fast, safe and secure. Along with the improved security for customers, merchants get a huge bene t as well - reduced fraud.

“Pizza Hut is excited to introduce Apple Pay for its customers, and help to make their mobile ordering experience easier and safer,” says Guy Scott-South of Pizza Hut Restaurants.

However, it’s not just restaurants that bene t from Apple Pay; any business with a website that accepts card payments can add the convenience and security of Apple Pay.

“The feedback from our partners and merchants is that Apple Pay is becoming a must-have payment option for retailers,” says Adam Sharpe, Cardstream CEO and founder.

NEW CHALLENGES

The hospitality sector re-opened across England as of December 3, but is now also subject to the revised tier system. The Times recently reported that 98% of England’s hospitality sector is set to be placed under the toughest Tier 2 and Tier 3 restrictions, resulting in an estimated loss of £7.8 billion sales in December (in comparison to last year).

As one of the hardest hit sectors, it cannot be denied that there is a need for a stronger technological presence, to adapt to and overcome the challenges Covid throws its way, feel newcomer to the sector, NOMM (New Order, Magic Menu).

The brand new NOMM hospitality app has been successful since its launch and features a range of AI-backed features, including map search, delivery, interactive menus, in-app payments, facial recognition and dietary and allergen information. Thus, the customer experience Thus, the customer experience is dramatically enhanced, claim the company, ushering in a new age of hospitality. For example, their app saw over 2,500 app downloads, more than 1,250 transactions and over £18,000 worth of sales in the rst week alone of their partnership with independent bar and restaurant, Rockwater Hove, the company report.

“It cannot be denied that Covid has had adverse impacts on the hospitality sector, completely transforming the customer experience. And as we move into this new era, technology is absolutely paramount to help us adapt, so it is important that we are able to con dently rise to the challenge,” says Will Broome, founder and CEO of NOMM.

“As seen from our partnership with Rockwater Hove, the implementation of technology holds the key to building a new future of hospitality. The shift to technology will provide integral support when adapting to the di erent tier regulations whilst also helping venues to safeguard themselves against future cases of irregular consumer behaviour.

“Technology o ers an all-encompassing solution. In NOMM’s case, in the form of a simple app which can put consumers in control, doing away with the need for time-consuming queues and wait times, and enabling sta members to enhance their customer service, taking the hospitality experience to new heights.”

AUTONOMY OVER DATA

Cheerfy - a CRM, loyalty and e-commerce solution dedicated to the hospitality industry - has launched a new product called Cheerfy Shop, to help operators turn their websites into an e-commerce facilities, as well as providing much needed at-table order and payment technology. Their innovation also gives operators full autonomy over their customers’ data, allowing them to take back control from third-party delivery providers without the burden of hefty commissions, point out the company (www.cheerfy.com).

The easy to use solution transforms basic websites into fully branded e-commerce sites, giving operators the ability to sell products directly to customers via their existing website. It also gives businesses exibility to o er a range of di erent menus – for delivery, sit in or collection – all under the operator’s website domain.

This capability enables operators to provide a direct delivery service that can integrate with cost-e ective delivery platforms. In addition, it provides a click and collect service for customers for same-day or future ordering, as well as an order and pay solution for in-venue customers via bespoke QR codes, which collect vital track and trace capable customer data.

The platform can integrate with a business’s point of sale as well as with Cheerfy’s loyalty solution to create a frictionless and personalised process for the customer, automatically updating their loyalty card or voucher with each purchase, and the online payment tool provides operators with instant payment via the businesses Stripe or Checkout.com account.

“The pandemic has had a long-lasting and devastating impact on the hospitality industry across the globe. We wanted to turn the downtime into an advantage, so looked to innovation, and the Cheerfy Shop was born,” says Adrian Maseda, co-founder of Cheerfy.

“From talking to our clients, it was apparent that third party delivery services have a monopoly in the industry, holding onto crucial customer data at prohibitive fees. We wanted to tackle this, and introduced the Cheerfy Shop, which complements our suite of existing customer loyalty services. The pandemic has led to an increasingly congested technology infrastructure, so we’ve sought to amalgamate a full suite of loyalty services under one banner, whilst maintaining simplicity for operators.”

The company’s technology is currently utilised at a number of operators across the café, restaurant, and pub and bar industries, including the fast-growing and innovative co ee brand, Black Sheep (the speciality co ee provider’s e-commerce o ering was constructed around some 2,000 options across its food and drink menus).

“Following extensive conversations with the Cheerfy team over the lockdown, we are delighted with the strategy and implementation of the new Cheerfy Shop platform. This solution gave us a crucial vehicle for trading during lockdown, and will form a key component in our o ering as we look ahead,” says Gabriel Shohet of Black Sheep Co ee.

“A particular highlight for us was the instant direct payment access, which removed the need for any intermediaries and created a truly seamless process. In Cheerfy we’ve found a committed and knowledgeable technology partner who are willing to work collaboratively with us and innovate – something that is imperative in today’s market.”

Cheerfy, which is running in the UK, Spanish, US, Italian and Portuguese markets, also provides an end-to-end customer loyalty platform that collects data through Wi-Fi, and utilises it to engage with customers through personalised automated email and SMS messages, driving return custom and encouraging up-selling within venue.

From Wi- , through to CRM systems, automated personalised marketing services through SMS, push noti cations and email, contact and trace systems, customer feedback, loyalty cards and vouchers, the platform allows operators to plug and play, and bene ts from seamless integration between all functionalities and, crucially, one point of contact for the operator.

As the industry seeks to restore customer con dence in the safety of eating and drinking out of home, direct communication through these channels is imperative, they feel, and in addition to the abundant options available to operators, the Cheerfy product also includes vital track and trace software to continue to bolster consumer feelings of safety and reassurance.