Latest
/
News

GoTab Helps Breweries Keep the Hospitality & the Revenue

Innovative features increase F&B sales, help boost sales in a limited labor world

Throughout the past year, restaurant commerce platform GoTab has helped hospitality businesses of all types and sizes pivot and transform their operations. GoTab’s technology has proven particularly effective for breweries across the US. Beyond boosting sales, GoTab brewery operators are delivering the hospitality their guests crave while also managing current labor shortages. Distinctive features such as order batching, two-way guest messaging and digital tabs allow better flow of service, staff optimization, and personalized guest experiences - all leading to, on average, +23% larger order sizes among GoTab operators.

"As more Americans get vaccinated, we’re seeing pent-up demand for restaurant and brewery experiences, and historically tight labor markets. GoTab offers an app-less, QR-based ordering solution that is efficient, easy to use, and allows them to scale based on demand."

Tim McLaughlin, CEO of GoTab

Increased F&B Sales & Higher Check Averages

Arts District Brewing Co. fully leveraged GoTab’s brewery POS system to outfit each table at their downtown L.A. brewery. Guests are able to stay seated and enjoy a safe dining experience, with contactless ordering and payment putting them in complete control of their food and drink orders. Guests are lingering longer, ordering more food and drinks, ultimately increasing check averages pretty significantly. Rather than one “standing code” generated through other POS options, GoTab allowed the brewery to have a unique QR code per table, making it easier for food runners to locate customers and for the back-of-house staff to address specific needs in a timely manner. Manager Stephen Dorame cited downloadable platforms as a turnoff for customers, so he was thrilled that GoTab requires no app downloads and directs guests straight to the brewery’s dedicated and customizable ordering page. “People are so excited that they don’t have to wait to order anymore. Whether they want another round or forgot a food item, the convenience is next-level,” said Dorame.

For Stone Brewing’s Liberty Station location in San Diego, GoTab allows them to speed up drink and food service, with customers getting their next drink in as little as four minutes after ordering from their mobile phones. “Given the vast format of our restaurants, we have seen an increase in the average number of drinks per guest due to the improved timing from order to delivery, a direct result of using GoTab,” said Gregg Frazer, VP of Hospitality for Stone Brewing.

Staff Optimization & Personalized Guest Experience

For Stone Brewing, GoTab gives them the opportunity to better personalize the guest experience. With customers in control of ordering and staff focused on service, they have added a manager table-touch as well as a cicerone table-touch to every table. “Stone Brewing has always been about the phenomenal, educational beer experience. With fewer staff running or getting tied up with ordering, we can bring back the focus to our history, our innovations, and what makes a craft pour exceptional,” said Gregg Frazer. “GoTab’s technology helped us pivot to a new labor model and reduce around 8% in labor, freeing up the space to make up for lost revenue,” he added.

At Caboose Brewing in Virginia, the team easily handles the ebbs and flows of visitation and order volumes. With GoTab’s integration with 7shifts, they can seamlessly forecast and adjust staffing levels, helping Caboose maintain its average labor costs significantly lower than the industry-wide average of 30%. As parts of the country face restaurant staff shortages, GoTab’s restaurant commerce platform allows operators to function with a lean and optimized team, while ensuring that guests have the best service experience.

“Stone Brewing has always been about the phenomenal, educational beer experience. With fewer staff running or getting tied up with ordering, we can bring back the focus to our history, our innovations, and what makes a craft pour exceptional. GoTab’s technology helped us pivot to a new labor model and reduce around 8% in labor, freeing up the space to make up for lost revenue."

Gregg Frazer, VP of Operations at Stone Brewing

New Revenue Streams

As cold weather and indoor dining restrictions started limiting operations at Philly-based Evil Genius Beer Company this past winter, the team decided to pivot and develop new ways to bring its serious beer with seriously funny names to customers. With the help of GoTab’s fast and flexible restaurant commerce platform, Evil Genius opened two new beer pop-up shops in Center City’s Rittenhouse neighborhood and Northern Liberties. 

"With further restrictions being put in place, we were able to give additional holiday hours to our staff by opening pop-up shops fairly quickly. The fast implementation we were able to do with GoTab made this a really easy and seamless process. On the first weekend, we had promising results and were able to double our current revenue in just a few days."

Trevor Hayward, Co-Owner of Evil Genius
Woman poring a beer.

GoTab will be hosting a free webinar on May 5 from 2:30-3pm to discuss solutions for boosting sales in a limited labor world.  Sign up for Boost Sales in a Limited Labor World to attend the session.


Regiester Today!

About GoTab, Inc.

GoTab, Inc., a Restaurant Commerce Platform (RCP), is helping large- and mid-sized restaurants, breweries, bars, hotels and other venues run lean, profitable operations while making guests even more satisfied. It integrates with popular point-of-sale (POS) systems and allows patrons to order and pay through a server, order and pay directly from their own mobile phones, or blend the two experiences all on one tab, through its easy-to-use mobile POS, contactless ordering and payment features, and kitchen management systems (KMS). The guest never has to download a mobile app or create a password. Operators get flexible features that can be rapidly applied to access new revenue streams via dine-in, take-out and delivery, ghost kitchens, retail groceries, and more. Founded in 2016, GoTab processes over $250M transactions per year with operations across 35 U.S. states and growing. For more information, consult our media kit, request a demo here or learn more at https://gotab.io/en.

Tap Room Playbook: Check Your Experience

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.

Watch Now →
Tap Room Playbook: Kick A** Brands

Tap Room Playbook Episode 3: 

The best breweries pay attention to what their brand stands for. How do the best brewers bring their brand to life?

Watch Now →

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.

Request a Demo

Ready to experience GoTab for yourself? Sign up for a free demo and get qualified to receive a complimentary meal on us!
Request a Demo