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The State Of Service And Mobile Order And Pay

Key Findings Map The Way Forward To Better Restaurant Guest Experiences

Arlington, VA, June 30, 2022 – Today, GoTab releases its inaugural State of Service Report. The report highlights key perceptions of mobile order and pay-at-table solutions, as well as a roadmap for restaurants that are looking for ideas to map their way forward to better guest experiences.

Based on a survey of U.S. adults who have worked in the restaurant industry during the past two years, the report shares insights about the tactics restaurants are using to speed service, reduce staff workload and empower guests with mobile order and pay-at-table solutions.

Download GoTab State of Service Report to Learn:

  • How likely restaurant guests are to adopt mobile order and pay-at-table solutions 
  • Top strategies to help front-of-house and back-of-house staff be more efficient
  • The biggest opportunities to increase average check sizes without sacrificing the guest experience

By using mobile order & pay-at-table technology, operators can give guests more control in the hospitality experience, unlock higher sales, reduce operating costs, and provide their employees a more rewarding work experience. In this report, we’ll show you how. We’ll also share new data on adoption of mobile order & pay-at-table solutions, as well as real-life examples of how the technology is transforming hospitality service delivery.

Current Restaurant Industry Dynamics Make A Strong Case For Mobile Order And Pay-At-Table

While the number of diners sitting at a restaurant continues to rise steadily, Yelp recorded a 23% increase in customers mentioning long wait times and a 229% increase in reviews mentioning short staffing during Q1 2022 (compared to Q1 2021). As much as we all want to manifest a ‘return to normal’ (and we know that ‘normal’ differs from one guest to the next), these numbers clearly indicate that the hospitality industry continues to face enormous challenges, the number one challenge being an extremely tight labor market and workers defecting from restaurant jobs.

Combating Heavy Server Workloads And Frustrated Guests

The GoTab State of Service report addresses the current dynamics that are bringing continued uncertainty and how they can be addressed through the smart application of guest-centric technology. It also shares that as much as these dynamics are known to hinder a restaurant’s ability to turn a profit, a remarkable margin of respondents are still not giving guests the options to take on more of the workload themselves. They don’t offer guests an option to browse a menu or place an order on their phone. They don’t let guests add to a tab on their phone. They aren’t supporting guest check-out on a mobile device. It all adds up to a big missed opportunity to reduce server workloads and give often frustrated guests what they want when they want it. 

Whether it’s empowering guests to take charge of the ordering and payment process, or offering them a hybrid service model that blends traditional service with mobile order and pay-at-table technology, the report shares real-world case studies of operators who are using technology to achieve higher check averages and serve more guests with less labor costs, without sacrificing their guest experience.

Getting Guests To "Upsell" Themselves

With almost 30 percent of survey respondents saying guests are happy to view a menu on their phone, and almost 25 percent saying guests are willing to checkout via a mobile device, the restaurant makes a strong case for every restaurant to offer mobile order and pay-at-table solutions as an option in their service model.


When asked about upsell, nearly 40 percent of the survey respondents say they never, or rarely, offer their guests a second round. This is yet another opportunity to gain higher profits through the use of technology - one of the beauties of mobile order and pay-at-table solutions is the ease at which guests can submit orders, add modifiers, and reorder, without ever having to flag down a server.

"GoTab was built from the ground up to help operators grow profit. We started in 2016 with a vision to introduce e-commerce into the dining experience in a way that helps operators increase their profit without sacrificing. GoTab operators have increased sales by as much as 100 percent, reduced operating costs by up to 30 percent and increased revenue by 300 percent. This report should serve as a resource for operators who are looking to make a meaningful impact to their efficiency and profitability while maintaining the level of experience and service their guests' expect".

Patricia Mejia, CMO of GoTab, Inc.

While restaurant technology won’t be the cure for all that ails the restaurant industry today, GoTab focuses on providing operators options to flex their service models. With GoTab, guests can:

The full GoTab State of Service report provides additional insights into the current hospitality experience, and offers solutions to personalize and optimize the guest experience moving forward. For more information, please visit https://gotab.io/en/gotabs-state-of-service-report.

About GoTab

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

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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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