District Fray Editor, Monica Alford interviewed GoTab to learn how we're helping the D.C. dining scene embrace contactless dining.
District Fray’s Editor Monica Alford interviewed GoTab CEO Tim McLaughlin back in July. Monica and Tim spent time talking about GoTab’s origin story and our future plans. They discussed the D.C. dining scene after Monica spent time with us at our DC Media Night earlier in the month.
In the early days, GoTab was developed as a point solution for a very specific service problem in breweries:
“... there’s a slow time in business when nobody’s there and then there’s the time when everybody wants to be there. But unfortunately, due to limitation of tables, seats or ability of servers to get to customers, you just [can’t accomplish] a good enough service level and not everybody gets what they want.”
Tim McLaughlin, CEO of GoTab
Today, contactless ordering and payment with GoTab is helping savvy operators on the D.C. dining scene like Barcelona Wine Bar, Espita and LuLu’s Winegarden, achieve outsized success. In a 2019 customer study, we found that GoTab operators:
See higher customer spend -- 23% when compared to counter service
Earn higher Yelp reviews -- average ½ star higher for GoTab users
Process more transactions -- typically 3-5 times more at peak versus a traditional POS
Hopes for the D.C. Dining Scene and Beyond
Tim went on to describe our plans for growth and, importantly, our hopes for GoTab operators on the D.C. dining scene and beyond.
“Obviously, we’d grow our business but we’d also help our clients grow their businesses and recover. [We want to help them] figure out how to operate in the new world that is Covid. But candidly, this model will work beyond Covid. We’ve been doing this for four years. ... We believe the restaurant business was due for some innovation,” said Tim.
The whole company cheers when we find out GoTab is helping a customer stay profitable through this challenging time. Get the full interview at GoTab Embraces New Wave of D.C. Dining.
Tap Room Playbook Episode 2:
When you really think about it, with everything managers need to do in a tap room, the hospitality aspect is often overlooked.
Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.
The Situation
Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.
The Solution
Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience
Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.
“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.
“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.
The Benefits
Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.
Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
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