iPad Based POS

Not long ago, purchasing a POS system for a 150-seat pub would have cost you anything from €20,000-€30,000. Fast forward to 2016 and the total outlay for the same size pub is probably less than €7,000, requiring possibly six iPads set-up with intelligent software and an affordable monthly license fee to a cloud-based provider including regular updates. You can have an iPad POS system for less than a third of traditional systems.

Why Your Pub Should Have its Own App

Technology is moving and changing the way pubs and restaurants operate every day. From cloud-based POS and scheduling software to social and digital media, there are a host of online tools available to you that can make pubs and restaurants more efficient, more profitable and more customer-friendly….if you to choose to use them. You can use mobile apps for getting live sales reporting directly to your phone. Similarly, there are now cloud based apps available for everything from tracking staff hours worked to paying to live stock control.

Investing in a Mobile App

So, just as you considered investing in your new website a decade ago, it may be time to start investigating into what a custom app could do for your pub. In the past few years creating your own app has become extremely accessible as companies like MojoBistro, BuildFire and OpenDining have simplified the process of building, launching and managing a custom mobile app for a very affordable monthly fee.

You can use apps to increase customer loyalty and revenue. In 2015, a Judo Payments survey in the UK found that 71% of consumers are more likely to return to a restaurant if it offers a loyalty scheme, that 65% of them would download a restaurant’s app to access offers and deals, and that 80% would return to a restaurant to benefit from in-app loyalty schemes. Those are strong numbers by any standards. With a low cost app you can let your customers know about special pricing deals or events and help drive business through your door at your quieter periods. There are a multitude of different providers out there, both local and international who can provide apps for every budget.

You have to imagine that it can’t be a bad thing for your pub app to be on a device that your customers consult over 150 times per day. Should you wish, Radleys can even provide a mobile app that allows your customer to order directly from your website to the till point. You can contact us on 021 4966740 for pricing information on this feature.

Loyalty Building

Digitalizing the loyalty program you have in place instead of sticking to the old point-collection card system, can make it possible for your customers to collect their rewards via your mobile app. The result? More downloads and more return customers.

The App is Visible at All Times

Even if the customer doesn’t visit the app frequently, it doesn’t change the fact that every time they use their phone they have to unlock, scroll, and scan their device for the apps they’re looking for. Being “in the way” can be an advantage to your company, as your mind unconsciously records every image and text it comes across. The more often your customers see your app, the sooner they will be inclined to buy your product and/or service. In advertising this is called the “effective frequency”: as a rule of thumb, hearing and/or seeing your brand approximately 20 times is what will get you noticed.

Make no mistake, both as a means of controlling your business and as a way of recruiting and retaining customers, mobile apps are here to stay.