The Blue Pig Takes Control Of Guest Experience & Profit Margins
Blue Pig sets itself apart from the long lines of the local BBQ scene by using GoTab products, including the POS, KDS, and Mobile Ordering and Payment, all while increasing profit.
Blue Pig maintains fresh, quality BBQ amid rising food costs with cutting-edge GoTab Technology
Nestled in the historic West Side of Cookeville, Tennessee, is a rustic-chic, fast-casual smokehouse, The Blue Pig. With a cozy backyard offering classic BBQ meats & Southern-style sides, Blue Pig is perfect for any occasion. From date night to family gatherings and large groups, guests can enjoy wood-fired smoked meats, street tacos, and BBQ nachos, all thoughtfully prepared with fresh ingredients. Blue Pig sets itself apart from the long lines of the local BBQ scene by using GoTab products, including the POS, KDS, and Mobile Ordering and Payment.
While the team at The Blue Pig has always created fantastic BBQ and operated with sustainable business practices, The Blue Pig wasn’t always the neighborhood joint it is today. During the height of the COVID19 pandemic, when the team prepared to re-open and survive in this new world, they pivoted from their upscale, fine-dining restaurant to a fun, fast-casual concept. Meeting the moment, in one of the most unpredictable times in industry history, The Blue Pig BBQ was born. The team was quickly facing the challenges of launching a new concept in one of the most unexpected times in industry history. To tackle the challenges of rising food costs and creating an exceptional guest experience, the team turned to GoTab.
Improved Guest Experience And Plate-Cost Control
With GoTab’s Mobile Ordering & Payment and POS, Blue Pig has been able to re-imagine its steps of service, differentiating itself from local competitors. For example, guests can now easily order both food and drink simultaneously instead of waiting in a long line for food, then again for beer. In addition, there is no need to flag down a server to pay or split their bill; they can leave on their own time. Shared tab control means the staff can also maintain the hospitality for which Blue Pig is known. Managers or servers can visit tables and access guest-initiated tabs to order another round while enjoying their meal. This modern take on service steps has led to higher revenue, improved order accuracy, and profitability.
With GoTab, our guests can experience the fresh, classic BBQ known to this area without the long lines. So many families and groups dine with us, and now they can enjoy their experience and leave whenever they want to– a complete game changer for us. Plus, with real-time analytics, we can manage our plate cost and continue to offer high-quality ingredients we are proud of amid increased food costs.
Kent Birdwell, Owner at The Blue Pig
With GoTab’s technology, The Blue Pig has a flexible service model that can offer traditional counter service and seamlessly manage high volume, even when faced with staffing issues. In addition, integration with Margin Edge supports accurate, up-to-date profitability that keeps their business running. Kent and the team at Blue Pig plan to leverage GoTab’s Marketing capabilities to offer promotions and drive repeat business with promotions and guest segmentation.
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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