How Can Mobile Table Service Help Hospitality Businesses?
As of September 24, 2020, all licensed hospitality venues in the UK must provide table service. This means that any licensed venue that sells food and drinks must take and serve orders at a table. These include restaurants, cafes, pubs, and other food and beverage establishments.
The new guidelines aim to help the 115,000+ licensed venues in the UK reopen after lockdown. Most importantly, the updates aim to help keep consumers safe as they once again venture outdoors.
However, mobile table ordering can help hospitality businesses make things even safer. For example, table service technology can help support social distancing for both customers and staff.
There’s more to mobile table service than just allowing for social distance, though. We’ll cover all the top benefits, so be sure to read on.
Keeping the Distance While Retaining Personalised Service
Even before the pandemic, UK consumers already had concerns about using shared menus. Now, more than ever, they’re more likely to want to use their personal devices to place orders.
Mobile table ordering allows your venue’s customers to do exactly that. They can order as they sit and relax at their tables.
Your venue’s guests can place orders using their mobile devices without leaving their seats. For example, they can scan a QR code to order food and drink to the table. They can also visit a web link where they can order straight from a tailored menu.
Customers with special requests or modified orders can also specify them in the mobile order they place. If they don’t want onions or mayonnaise, then they can just indicate that in the order. The kitchen staff then only need to follow these order instructions to deliver a personalised service.
Cashless Payments for Even More Hygienic Transactions
A report found that 7.4 million people in the UK lived an “almost cashless life” in 2019. This is an increase of more than two-fold within just a couple of years. That number is sure to increase further, as more people want to avoid handling notes and coins.
Hospitality operators who haven’t gone cashless should consider doing so now. Fortunately, cashless payment is already a part of mobile table ordering. After customers place their mobile orders, they can pay using their bank or credit cards.
So, not only is mobile table service a contact-free way to place orders in hospitality venues. It also affords everyone a more hygienic way to complete sales since it’s cashless.
Faster Table Turns Without Compromising Quality
Cutting back on dining time is now even more imperative with all the changes that have occurred. Yes, customers want to eat out, but they also want to get their orders faster. This way, they can reduce the time they spend in a public area.
Mobile table ordering allows hospitality operators to adapt to these changed behaviours. It does so by speeding up the process of order placement. The faster the orders get placed, the quicker the delivery of the orders to the table.
This hastened delivery allows customers to finish eating or drinking faster. Hospitality staff can then turn tables quicker, accommodating more waiting customers.
Reduce Customer Concerns About Waiting Times
Speaking of waiting times, innovative mobile table service also shows an estimated turn around time for orders. The Goodeats mobile table ordering service, for instance, comes with a timer feature. With this, customers can see how many minutes they need to wait for their orders.
Knowing how long it will take to get a placed order is much better than not having any idea at all. For instance, if customers see that they need to wait for 15 minutes, it can help make the waiting time more bearable. Moreover, it assures customers that your venue has received their orders and that you’re already preparing it.
Improved Payment Security
Mobile table ordering can also help minimise credit card security concerns. That’s because customers no longer have to hand over their cards to the venue’s personnel. They can make the payment for their orders on their own, using their personal devices.
This contact-free payment method also further reduces health and safety concerns. Since it doesn’t require bank and credit cards to pass hands, it can help minimise the spread of germs.
Reduced Workload and Burden on Staff
Pre-COVID, 84% of hospitality workers already said they experienced work-related stress. So, establishments should be exploring how technology can help address some of these concerns.
Mobile table service can help, because first it minimises contact with customers. Second, they receive information about the orders placed in digitised form and as staff no longer have to write orders this can help reduce order inaccuracies.
Easy Integration of Promotions and Offers
Mobile table service also allows for the integration of product deals and promotions. A perfect example is the recent “Eat Out To Help Out Scheme” ran and backed by the UK Government. While this has ended, hospitality operators can use this as the model for their next program.
Mobile Table Ordering Made Even Simpler and Safer by Goodtill
Here at Goodtill, we’re proud to be the leading iPad POS system provider within the UK’s food and beverage sector. We provide not only mobile table ordering but also online ordering services. Our team can get your hospitality venue set up with the system in just a few hours.
What’s more, we offer free set up plus the first £1,000 transactions fee-free.
Reopen Your Venue Safely With Instant Table Ordering
Interested in learning more about Goodtill’s mobile table service and online ordering platform? Feel free to get in touch with our team then! You can also request a free demo to see how these systems work.