Restaurants’ Adoption Of Contactless Technology Has Accelerated Over The Past Year, As Businesses And Consumers Have Sought Out COVID-Safe Alternatives To Any Pre-Pandemic Practices
The New Digital Integration
Restaurants’ adoption of contactless technology has accelerated over the past year, as businesses and consumers have sought out COVID-safe alternatives to any pre-pandemic practices.
In a recent PYMNTS article, they highlight how GoTab is now introducingredesigned digital menus and a contactless ordering starter kit for operators.The redesigned menus offer an increased flexibility, allowing them to function less like an inventory list, and more like the sorts of discrete menus restaurants use for different dayparts and occasions. “The Menus lets you cross-collect your catalog, take a portion of it, construct who can see it, when they can see it, when they can order from it,” said GoTab CEO, Tim McLaughlin.One advantage of this digital integration is that it allows the menu to curate recommendations to the consumer. The menu was not in place of restaurants’ own recommendations, but rather in addition to them. These recommendations are to be based both on the consumer’s order at that restaurant and their orders at other GoTab-enabled locations.
Touch-Free Customer Experience
In addition to in-restaurant menus, the company also offers off-premises ordering, POS hardware, apps to help with operational efficiency and additional eCommerce tools. While the recent success of contactless technology may be a direct result of contagion concerns, its popularity is expected to continue increasing well after the majority of the public is vaccinated.Sit-down restaurants have traditionally abstained from digital innovations and other kinds of consumer-facing technology out of fear that these changes could cheapen the diner’s experience and undercut their value proposition, but these said operators are already changing their approach.In-store technology has been able to reduce labor costs and be able to use it as a marketing tool.
Flexibility OF Digital menus
With some restaurants using as much tech as possible to give their guests an excellent experience with little or no touch.The pandemic has intensified operators' sense of urgency to adopt transformational technology, and respondents have been implementing tech that prioritizes safety and self-service in response.
With the help of GoTab, these operators have been able to redesign their digital menus and contactless ordering in order to further their business efforts. Thus offering an increased flexibility, allowing it to function with less of an inventory list, and use the menu to complete off-premises ordering.
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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