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The Pickleball Group Outing Problem: Shared Payments Without the Chaos

Pickleball is social by nature — leagues, lessons, mixers, tournaments, birthday bookings, corporate outings, you name it. When players gather, they don’t just compete. They eat, drink, celebrate wins, and wind down together.

But here’s the catch: Group play means group tabs — and traditional POS systems aren’t built for that reality.

Most platforms force guests into one of two frustrating choices:

  • One person fronts the entire bill
  • Everyone orders separately and pays individually

Neither option matches how pickleball groups actually behave. They want seamless ordering, shared bills, and fair, flexible payment — without turning the last match point into a 20-minute checkout session.

That’s where GoTab comes in.

Why Shared Tabs Matter in Pickleball Venues

At busy pickleball venues, guests are constantly on the move:

  • Rotating courts
  • Leaving for warm-ups
  • Hitting the bar between matches
  • Ordering food to share courtside
  • Bringing guests and spectators

A shared experience shouldn’t lead to shared pain at checkout. With GoTab, groups can order fluidly, spend naturally, and settle up effortlessly.

GoTab’s Solution: Shared Tabs Built for Modern Hospitality

GoTab’s shared tab system is engineered for dynamic, high-traffic entertainment environments — exactly like pickleball and padel clubs.

One Group, One Tab, One Check-Out — No Hassle

Players can open a shared tab and:

  • Add drinks and food throughout play
  • Order from kiosks, QR codes, or a staff handheld
  • Let anyone in the group join the tab
  • Track what’s ordered in real time

No paper tickets. No shouting names. No confusion.

Flexible Ways to Pay

When it’s time to settle up, guests can:

  • Split evenly
  • Pay by item
  • Pay by guest
  • Let the host pay and settle later
  • Use memberships, credits, or stored payment info

Everyone pays the way they want — without slowing down the rest of the operation.

Smart Routing & Expo Visibility

GoTab doesn’t just handle payments — it ensures orders land where they need to:

  • Bar vs. kitchen routing
  • Court or table delivery
  • Name + order item ID on tickets
  • KDS prep and expo control

Your staff stays efficient — even when a group is bouncing between courts.

Real-World Impact for Pickleball Operators

GoTab lets pickleball venues:

  • Increase check size by encouraging group ordering
  • Reduce staff burden and time spent managing tabs
  • Boost throughput during league nights and events
  • Create a seamless guest experience that feels premium
  • Capture more revenue from spectators and social players

The result? More play time, more spending, and less friction — for everyone.

Pickleball Is Built on Community. Your POS Should Support It.

Shared experiences deserve shared payment flexibility. With GoTab, pickleball venues don’t just handle it — they unlock a better guest journey and a more profitable business model. From casual group play to private events and league nights, GoTab keeps the fun flowing and the checks stress-free.

Ready to Deliver a Better Courtside F&B Experience?

GoTab powers the fastest-growing pickleball clubs and eatertainment venues with flexible ordering, frictionless payments, and purpose-built hospitality tech.

  • Give guests the freedom to play, order, and enjoy
  • Handle group tabs without slowing down service
  • Create a club experience that feels modern and effortless

Find Out How to Build a Winning Pickleball Food & Beverage Program

Don’t just keep up with the pickleball boom — capitalize on it. Download The Pickleball & Padel Playbook for Food & Beverage to learn proven strategies to increase throughput, drive repeat visits, and deliver elevated guest experiences on and off the court.

👉 Get the playbook: The Pickleball & Padel Playbook for Food & Beverage

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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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