In association with
This was one of the key reasons for Spinath to choose Lightspeed as Crêpeaffaire’s Epos provider. “It shouldn’t be a case of ‘this is the package you’ve got, so deal with it,’” he believes. “It’s about thinking creatively about applications that can be added onto the tech- nical platform and working together on inter- esting functionalities but also about some gadgets that consumers will like. We’re work- ing together on creating new ideas that we can test in one or more of our outlets, refine them, make them work better, and then roll that out across our branches.” Consterdine adds: “If you are not with an Epos provider that’s got a robust roadmap and can prove that it’s investing in its soft- ware product, then your investment could be wasted within two years.”
start to become much more targeted, identi- fying themselves with a particular market segment, whether that is independent, national or multinational operators. “Traditionally, operators have either over- spent on Epos systems they don’t need or gone for the cheap option when they’ve needed something a bit more complicated,” he says. “What you will start to see happening is that as the different markets in the sector become more identifiable, companies will select what the right option is for themselves a lot more.”
An independent countryside hotel is
likely to sign up with Newbridge, for exam- ple, while a national café chain might be more suited to a Zonal system. Along with the universal Epos must-haves of integration, cloud functionality and flexibil- ity, all hospitality operators, regardless of their market segment, should be looking for pro- viders that offer scalability (an Epos system should be able to keep up when you open a second, third or fourth location) and a robust roadmap for future development.
EVERYTHING AT THE TOUCH OF A BUTTON Further down the line, technology integra- tion is likely to extend beyond hospitality- focused apps and other systems, as the worlds of retail and leisure continue to converge, Taylor believes. “Consumers and their families will increas- ingly see bricks-and-mortar shopping as part of a continuum that focuses heavily on eat- ing, drinking and visiting attractions in a large mixed retail and leisure complex,” he predicts. “They certainly don’t want a lot of payment, discount or loyalty point complexities to get in the way of their enjoyment.” More than half (51%) of under-35s polled in Omnico’s research, for instance, say they want a single loyalty programme for retail, leisure and hospitality. To meet this demand, operators’ Epos sys- tems will – eventually – need to be integrated with those of other retail and leisure operators so that visitors have a hassle-free experience as they move between shopping, hospital- ity, rides and attractions. While this level of interoperability is unlikely to filter through to small independents for quite some time– “Independent customers in the deepest part of west Wales will probably want to talk about mobile in 30 years’ time,” Green jokes – New- bridge intends to be ready. “People want every- thing at the touch of a button,” Green says. “And businesses and the platforms they use need to be able to cope with that.”
For Daniel Spinath, managing director of crêpe franchise chain Crêpeaffaire, his Epos must-haves are user-friendliness for both staff and customers, plus flexibility and analytics. He’s also finding that operators increasingly need to be able to anticipate what customers might want before their order has been taken. “In quick-service restaurants, we’re going away from having
www.thecaterer.com
Crêpeaffaire gains speed and upsell, with self-service and training to come “The objective is to get speedily
customers standing at the counter to a system where they need to be guided through the process of what the options are,” he explains. “You go to a consumer and propose things. For example, if there is a family, we can anticipate already that this family may want multiple products, they may want customised products, and we’ll be able to estimate what they may want just by looking at them.
to an order the consumer actually wants and to guide them through the decision process. As a result, we can also increase average transaction values through upsell.” At present Crêpeaffaire uses a Lightspeed cloud system with tablets. Over the next year, Spinath plans to look at using the tablets as self-service terminals, as well as how the system can
become a tool to train team members. For example, an order might come through on a tablet and get sent to a kitchen display, which shows how it should be prepared for training purposes. “The whole idea is using the technology not just as an order-taking system but also as something that can be used to make your operation run more smoothly,” Spinath says.
Technology Prospectus 2018 | 31
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