GoTab's technology has transformed traditional aspects of the full-service dining room in 2021 and is beginning to cater to new diner expectations for convenient, contactless experiences.
Creating a Special Experience
In an article from Restaurant Hospitality, Stone Brewing Co., a brewery and restaurant chain with three restaurants and four taprooms throughout Southern California, had to pivot completely over the past year. As their experience was based on beer tastings and different community events, it became nearly impossible for the brewery to exercise them throughout the past year.As they had the wheels in motion for contactless ordering in November 2019, and then when the pandemic hit, they went from seeing contactless as simply a tool to being able to utilize it to boost their profitability over the course of the challenging days of the pandemic.
As explained by Greg Frazer, vice president of hospitality at Stone Brewing Co.,“We moved to a labor light model. To me, service is not order taking: service is all the other stuff around that. Shifting the order taken to the customer forces you to focus on what makes up the experience and the service.”
Bringing Tech to the Table
As the dust of 2020's pandemic disruption begins to settle and a permanently altered restaurant landscape comes into focus, operators are still asking a major question: What technologies will become table stakes for indoor dining?As Stone Brewing Co. ramped up on using multiple formats of Gotab they saw their profitability begin to ramp up as well. This technology has transformed traditional aspects of the full-service dining room in 2021 and is beginning to cater to new diner expectations for convenient, contactless experiences. By implementing cicerones to walk around and help people (a sommelier for beer) and trained their hosts to do a higher level of greeting. They also added a concierge feature, which allows customers to tap away and employees can dispatch whatever is needed.“I think contactless ordering gives you the ability to flex your service and that is the future of where the hospitality industry is going,” Frazer said.Watch the video for more insight from Stone Brewing Co. on combining contactless technology
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.
.webp)
