With the current lockdown in place and the Tier system set to come back into force once lockdown measures are eased, concerns over protecting your employees, customers and communities will remain as important as ever.

The pandemic pushed mobile ordering and payment technology into the spotlight last year, and consumers were quick to embrace the technology as part of their new COVID-compliant, contactless guest experience. But with benefits of order and pay technology extending well-beyond the pandemic, this trend is set to continue well into 2021 and beyond.

What’s more, changes in consumer habits and a desire to stay connected during the pandemic have driven an increase in mobile phone usage with 56% of people now using their mobile more than since COVID-19 began.

Zonal has been working with operators for several years now, supporting their order and pay solutions, however in October 2020 before festive restrictions came into force, we saw a record number and value of contactless orders processed through our mobile ordering solutions – £15million in one month.

So whilst customers are currently confined to their homes for another lockdown, now’s the opportunity to get on the front foot with Order and Pay technology, ready for when the industry opens back up again.

As with any new technology rollout, there are critical steps and pitfalls which determine its success or failure and we’ve put together a few Dos and Don’ts to help you make a success of your new order and payment solution.

1. Don’t rush your decision

With restrictions and government guidelines constantly changing, operators have had to make quick decisions, pivot business models on the spot and adapt to what is expected of them with only a moment’s notice. However, making a quick decision about a technology solution is not always the best decision, so make sure you take the time to do your research to find the right online ordering system for your business. Think through exactly how staff are going to quickly receive and manage orders, without disrupting other existing operations. Why not write a checklist of all the things you want your order and pay technology to be able to do, and be sure to speak to a few providers before making your decision.

2. Do check it’s future-proofed

Ensuring that your system is future-proofed is vital. A short-term solution could end up as a long-term headache, which drains more of your time than it saves. Does your online ordering system seamlessly integrate with your POS, so that orders are sent straight to the kitchen without your staff having to manually re-key orders? Does it give your customers a real-time view of your prices, stock, menu availability and offers? These are all things that need to be considered when choosing the right order and pay system and things that could very quickly become a drain of your time.

3. Do set KPIs and review them regularly

The best way to ensure a return on investment on your order and pay app is to review its performance against a set of KPIs that you set at the beginning of the project. You can quickly identify what’s working and what’s not, and prioritise any areas for improvement. You might want to set KPIs around the number of users, average spend or other important goals for your specific venue.

4. Don’t underestimate the importance of testing

Order and Pay is an extension of your brand and is an essential part of the customer experience. Make sure you test it out for yourself and ask staff, friends and family to do the same, to make sure you are happy the user experience. You’ll find that their feedback and engagement will enhance the overall success when it’s time to launch and could also give you some valuable nuggets of feedback that turn it from a standard solution to one that really flies!

5. Do take the time to train staff

Your staff can be your biggest advocates. It might seem straightforward but staff knowing how to use it inside out will be critical to its success. Take the time to train your staff thoroughly and allow all your staff to trial it.

6. Don’t expect your Order and Pay solution to sell itself

Just launching a mobile order and pay solution doesn’t guarantee it will be used. Your staff will be your main promotional channel for using the service, but it’s equally important to utilise every marketing tool in your kit. Whether it’s point of sale material on tables, till receipts, posters on toilet doors, on your website or emails, making customers aware that they are now able to order from the seat of their table will ensure its success.

If you’re thinking about an order and pay solution for your business, take a look at Zonal’s Order and Pay solutions, or get in touch with one of our team today using the form below to discuss your requirements.

You’ve decided to invest in a new piece of tech to improve the customer experience in your hospitality venue, great news! The next stage, however, can seem a rather daunting… from deciding on the right solution to invest in, to selecting the menu items you wish to push. What exactly does it entail? And what needs to be done to ensure you get the most out of your investment?

Over the past few years, Zonal has helped thousands of hospitality businesses to successfully deploy mobile order and pay solutions, so based on this experience, we’ve put together a handy checklist of everything you’ll need to do,  to ensure you get up and running quickly, using your system to its full potential.

1. Appoint a project owner and identify key stakeholders

Whether you’re a single site business, small group or multi-brand operation, the first and most important step is to decide who will be managing and championing your order and pay project. Even the biggest technology projects can fall between the cracks if there’s no clear owner to manage communications, gather feedback and keep the project on track. Likewise, if you’re not involving all of the members of your team who will be impacted by the new technology, it’s much harder to get their buy-in. Some key stakeholders you might want to involve could be wait staff, bar staff or even customers – it’s these groups who will be using it the most after all.

2. Set KPIs

As you probably already do with your other technology solutions, setting KPIs for your mobile Order and Pay solution will help you measure success and allow you to spend time nurturing those areas that are doing well.  There are many different metrics you can potentially track including spend per head, engagement with the service, frequency of visits or even average table occupancy.  Tracking these will help you to accurately determine ways to improve performance and develop an action plan based on the data.

3. Keep your brand and customer journey consistent

Before investing in an Order and Pay solution it’s helpful to ensure your brand guidelines are up to date. To ensure your Order & Pay web page or app is customised the way you want it to be when it goes live, double check you have all your logos, images, font files and colours ready to go. Ensuring these are all up to date and match your current branding will ensure consistency of your brand and enhance the customer journey.

4. Decide what menu items to sell

Whether you choose to include your full menu or a select few items, deciding which items to appear on your menu is necessary before implementation. Push special promotions or offers to promote your best sellers or push those less popular to increase sales. Menus, pricing and stock availability are kept up to date in real-time, so guests are never disappointed.

5. Ensure payments can be processed

To process payments through a mobile order and pay solution, you’ll be required to set up a Braintree/Paypal account. This is simple to set up and just requires to you to send a few details to Braintree and can be processed in 1-3 days.

6. Set up your developer accounts

If you’re going down the bespoke mobile app route, you’ll also need to set up developer accounts to push your app to the Google Play store or Apple stores, so it can be downloaded by customers. This can be set up in a few steps, and your app will appear in no time!

7. Make sure staff are onboard and fully trained

Ensuring your staff are onboard with any new technology solution will be critical to its success. Encourage them to give their feedback and ideas on how to make it a success and of course to use the new ordering process to see for themselves how easy it is. Why not organise a series of dedicated training sessions ready for launch with one of our trainers to help get you started. Providing a safe, non-live environment for all users will help them get comfortable with the solution and practice real-life scenarios before they happen.

8. Create a dedicated marketing campaign to launch your new service

You’ve created a fantastic new ordering channel. Now what? The success of your Order and Pay solution is completely dependent on how you promote it. So before rolling it out, make sure you create a dedicated marketing plan, incorporating all of the channels you have at your disposal – website, social media, in-store POS, email, till receipts… Consider an incentive to encourage customers to use the new ordering channel too. Maybe a free drink? Or free dessert with a spend over a certain amount. Think about really clear and simple messaging in your venues where it’s visible for customers to see. Having the right marketing in place, can help encourage downloads, improve customer experience, and help you meet safety expectations. The Zonal team are happy to help with more ideas on making a success of your roll out.

9. Test, test, test

If deploying an Order and Pay solution with Zonal, our dedicated Project team will support you through the testing phase to ensure everything is working as it should. Once you’re happy with your solution, it’s also important to test it with your stakeholders – staff, friends and family, to identify any final tweaks that will ensure it is an instant success!

10. Set a date to review the implementation

Like any great technology rollout, the analysis and adjustment phase is a critical stage to enable you to check that the tech is working as you hoped it would, to review results and identify anything that needs to be adjusted to improve results. Put a date in the diary to get your stakeholders together post-go live.

Using Zonal’s Order and Pay solution is seamless, efficient and stress free and your deployment process should be no different.

Find out more about Zonal’s Order and Pay solution here or get in touch using the form below.

Have you explored how Click and Collect could help you beat the January blues and instead grow your business?

January can be a notoriously quiet month for operators, as dropping temperatures, dreary weather and drained bank accounts leave customers wanting to stay indoors hibernating. But with delivery services such as Deliveroo and UberEats seeing record-breaking growth figures year-on-year and online ordering services such as Click and Collect now used by almost a quarter of all consumers, January needn’t be the most depressing trading month of the year.

EPoS-integrated online ordering solutions such as Zonal’s Click and Collect could open up a brand-new revenue stream for your business this January, by enabling customers feeling the January blues to place and order food to collect at their own convenience – to eat at home. Everyone is a winner!

According to GO Technology 22% of consumers have used Click and Collect in the last six months and spend an average of £113.99 on eating and drinking out a month.

Here are some of the many ways your venue can benefit from Click and Collect:

• A superior customer experience

Click and Collect enables customers to seamlessly place and pay for an order online, specifying the exact day and time they want to retrieve their order. As a service that has been common practice in the retail sector for many years, customers expect the convenience and flexibility that Click and Collect offers for their lifestyles.

• Upselling opportunities

Click and Collect allows you to upsell products, packages and high margin items driving increased revenue. And according to GO Technology, Click and Collect users are big spenders: more than two thirds (71%) of users eat out weekly, with an average spend of £28.23 – more than those who have never used the service.

• A new revenue stream

Your richest source of loyal customers is often those on your doorstep. According to GO Technology, customers are willing to travel for up to 9 minutes to pick up an order. Making it easy for your customers to enjoy your food without having to make themselves presentable enough to dine in – especially in the depths of winter – enables you pick up incremental revenue that would have otherwise been missed.

• Expand your operations

Your venue may be limited for space but that doesn’t mean you have to limit the number of orders you accept. Click and Collect enables you to put more orders through your kitchen, without eroding profit margins, helping you grow your customer base and ultimately your top-line revenue.

• Improve operational efficiency

Customers using self-service online channels to order and pay for food and drink streamlines the order process for you, allowing you to focus on product quality and customer service. Zonal’s Click and Collect solution is fully integrated with your EPoS, so no rekeying of orders is required, and orders are only sent to the kitchen when preparation of the food is needed, significantly reducing pressure on the kitchen team.

• No commission to pay

Zonal’s Click and Collect online ordering solution is available for a flat monthly fee, so you’ll never be faced with nasty unexpected commission bills at the end of the month.

Find out how early adopters, Pizza Express have been capitalising on Click and Collect and how it triggered a 5% upturn in sales with our Click and Collect webinar.