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Call Sales: +1 (833) 437-3835
Revel | June 23, 2022 |
Set your bar and restaurant apart with the latest bar technologies on the market. Whether your bar is sleek and modern or has more of a rustic saloon aesthetic, it’s important that your business operates at its highest efficiency. Having the latest technology in bars allows you to improve efficiencies, increase sales, and wow your customers in the process.
According to the National Restaurant Association’s State of the Industry Report, “emerging technologies that rate highest among consumers include service-enhancing items such as tablets at the table, self-service electronic kiosks, and wearable technology for restaurant servers.”
With this in mind, let’s take a deeper dive into the top bar trends for upping your bar & restaurant game and standing out in front of a broad market.
Payment Flexibility
Credit or debit? Today’s modern customer now comes equipped with a variety of options, like Apple Pay, loyalty points, and gift cards loaded on their phone. Don’t turn away customers with a cash-only operation. Enable your businesses to accept all types of transactions. This can even include accepting split bills, contactless payments and pre-authorizing customers’ credit cards for bar tabs. Pre-authorization lets them hold on to their credit cards, reducing your liability!
One contactless payment that is great for the bar industry is Revel SmartPay. Revel SmartPay is a contactless, mobile payments solution that gives your guests the ultimate convenience in how they choose to pay. Guests can either scan a QR code to pay their bill or through an SMS text message all from devices within their palms and pocks.
Modernizing and adopting new strategies and bar technologies for your bar could be just the element of surprise that drives more traffic into your business. Here’s how The Cauldron, a New York City bar, is putting a unique spin on its payment processes:
The Cauldron provides a fully interactive and immersive experience by implementing the use of wands in exchange for holding customers’ credit or debit cards. Visitors can choose from 72 variations of wands, which are then linked to credit cards and track the beer pours customers consume. This frees them to enjoy beverages at their leisure with the tap of a wand. When they want to check and close out their tabs, they return the wand and settle up. “The ability to pre-authorize a debit or credit card means that we have some level of accountability without physically holding customers’ debit or credit cards,” states Michael Cortland, CEO and founder of The Magic of Things.
Whether you seek to offer a magical experience or simply want to streamline payments for your customers, payment flexibility is key to engaging the modern patron in the bar industry.
Why make your customers wait when you can process orders anywhere in your bar and restaurant? With mobile order takers, your staff can provide service anywhere on the floor – and automatically send orders to the bartender or kitchen to expedite the process. This integration is especially perfect for beer gardens, patios, and nightclubs.
Rather than handwriting your bar menu on a chalkboard, switch to an advanced digital menu display system. With a digital menu you’ll have several options for custom offerings and instantaneous updates. For example, spotlight your current beverage list, including the name, style, and color of the alcohol to the type of glassware it’s served in. And don’t forget, what’s on the menu matters most. According to Food Service Warehouse, creating a signature drink is important to developing a unique vibe and identity for your bar. Putting your own spin on your drink menu gives customers a special reason to visit your bar instead of the one down the street.
Drive customer service with self-service. While this may sound counter intuitive, customers are demanding total control over their customer experience, which creates opportunity for bars to implement self-service kiosks.
Electrify your bar experience with an emerging trend that’s surely here to stay — self-serve beverage walls that allow patrons to pour their own beers. PourMyBeer, a self-serve beverage system explains that implementing this bar technology completely transforms the consumer experience at your bar. When customers pour their own drinks, you’ll reduce wait times and free your staff to focus more on quality of service.
Adopt this self-serve technology for your bar to help your business stand apart as one of the best bars in today’s highly competitive market. Patrons are bound to give you some extra love if you can provide a variety of beverage options. Beer enthusiasts will jump at the opportunity to sample a new brew before committing to an entire pint!
Bar inventory software is another great feature to have in your bar technology stack. Track your inventory in real-time so you know what to reorder and when. Revel updates inventory count for you, sends automatic stock alerts and generates purchase orders, so inventory never runs out.
Revel’s bar inventory software allows you to scan and manage your inventory more efficiently by allowing you to use your phone as a handheld barcode scanner and inventory management tool to ensure accurate inventory records. Also, you can seamlessly sync activity from the Inventory App to your Management Console making it easy for your business to keep track of complex matrix inventories.
People increasingly discover new bars through social media. With the proliferation of user-generated content, your customers photographing your drinks and food automatically become your brand ambassadors. Social media is a can’t-miss channel for advertising and promoting your bar online. Build an army of brand ambassadors with a strong social presence.
Repurpose user-generated content to live on your website, on creative retail promotion videos, and of course shared across your social media platforms. A product praised by your friends and family will always hold more weight than any company-released review. Be sure to take advantage of this strategy! The ripple effect of a great review can help to drive new patrons and traffic to your establishment.
Running a successful bar is no easy feat, but with the benefit of streamlined bar technology, your bar can maintain a competitive edge, efficiently serve customers, and consistently lean toward profitability. Request a free demo today to learn about all Revel has to offer for your bar and restaurant!
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