Food Halls: Must Have Tech

Food halls are destination retail establishments that offer convenience to guests. One person can grab a sandwich, another picks up an Asian dish, while another chooses ice cream. Everything that you could possibly want- in one location. Use technology to your advantage in order to have your food hall running smoothly and efficiently.

The right technology for your food hall should make operations convenient and quick for both staff and customers.When looking for your food hall’s tech match, consider what that technology brings to the table. Digital technology and online ordering improve every aspect of how a food hall functions. Benefits include: 

• Contactless service that is personalized to the individual needs of a customer
• Secure, encrypted ordering and payment transactions
• The ability to grow and scale without limitations
• The ability to process more orders, therefore increasing revenue 

So what kind of technology does your food hall need in order to run efficiently?

Food Hall Must Have: Wi-Fi Access

There is very little you can do without Wi-Fi. It is essential for your food hall to have functioning Wi-Fi for your guests and your vendors. Guests connect to Wi-Fi to learn about your venue, explore vendors, place orders and learn about specials and promotions. Wi-Fi systems that have an intercept will allow you to collect visitor emails and give guests the option to  subscribe to your marketing list. Food Halls need regular foot traffic to maintain profitability, and for that reason, they often become their own communities complete with lifestyle events, movies, activities and even fitness classes. Creating compelling marketing content via intercept-enabled Wi-Fi will deepen guest loyalty and increase traffic to your food hall.  For Vendors, Wi-Fi is crucial to execute daily business functions as most restaurants and food purveyors are moving towards cloud-based technology. 

Food Hall Must Have: QR-Based Online Ordering enabled Point of Sale (POS) System

With an online ordering enabled point of sale system (POS), food hall customers scan a QR code with their smartphones to access services such as the menu, promotional offers, and the food hall website. Through their devices, customers have the opportunity to self-serve: they can order and pay on their own. Self-service ordering allows staff to focus on creating a positive experience, maintaining food quality, and executing quick ticket times. The greatest value of a POS integration for your food hall however, is the detailed real-time analytics it can give you. For example, the POS can track your hottest selling items, most used ingredients, overall sales, and payroll. Furthermore, with cloud-based technology, you can access all the POS data from anywhere with basic internet access. 

Customer Benefits: 

• Increase control over each order including modifications, or allergy notations for their meal
• Increase communication with order updates from when order is placed to fulfillment
• Seamless, secure payment experience 

Vendor Benefits:

• Reduce order errors 
• Reduce wait time and increase average order size and revenue
• Increase communication between FOH, BOH and guests

Food Hall Must Have: Multi-Operator Feature Streamlining Ordering & Payment

Food halls offer the variety guests desire, however multiple transactions and long lines can take away from the guest experience, or even become overwhelming. GoTab’s Multi-Operator Locations introduces capabilities that enables venues, such as food halls, to have a streamlined ordering and payment experience for guests. Guests scan a unified QR code where guests can see all active vendor menus, place multiple orders from multiple vendors with only one transaction and to make a single payment that we automatically route to the correct vendors. 

The GoTab Multi-Operator Locations provides vendors with increased visibility, customization, and sales transparency. Individual vendors have access to their own dashboard and can create a personalized, branded menu. Orders are routed to the respective vendors’ Kitchen Display System or printed for fulfillment. Once guests pay, tips are allocated to each vendor by percentage of sales. GoTab is even able to automate daily vendor payouts, including taxes and tips, which will set your food hall apart from the common practice of bi-weekly or even monthly payouts. 

It’s the little conveniences that guests remember and drive repeat visits. In order to have a competitive advantage over other food halls, one needs flexibility in mobile ordering and payment, short wait times, etc. Improving Food Hall tech is not only beneficial for owners, but also vendors and guests. It allows customers to receive the convenience they expect while vendors/merchants benefit from less work reconciling and managing payouts. Most importantly, the consolidated data can be used to make any adjustments to staffing and operations, thereby optimizing profitability within your food hall.