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Restaurants across the country have recently begun introducing tablets to their workforce, in many cases improving the overall casual dining experience for guests, servers and operators alike.
La Cage aux Sports, a Quebec-based restaurant and sports bar, recently implemented a wireless local area network (WLAN) solution in addition to arming each server with Motorola’s ET1 tablet for mobile order taking, to make the guest experience flow more smoothly.
The company has been open for 30 years with 53 restaurants across the province of Quebec. Many of the restaurant’s customers come to La Cage aux Sports to watch hockey games, which meant the company was faced with higher costs and searching for a way to improve customer satisfaction.
The decision was eventually reached to implement a mobile ordering system enabled by Motorola’s ET1 and WLAN solution.
The solution has resulted in faster food and drink delivery, increased server efficiency and customer engagement, and a 10-percent average increase in table bill income.
“The WLAN solution and ET1 tablets in our restaurants helped us increase the overall customer satisfaction, cut the wait time for orders and increase staff efficiency,” Mathieu Laliberté, director of information and technologies for La Cage Aux Sports, told eWEEK. “We have noticed a definite improvement–servers are more available to customers during the meal so they can propose more add-ons and they can bring the invoice more quickly. The Motorola technology has helped us get faster table turns and increase the average check from customers by 10 percent.”
Laliberté said the business is also using mobile phone applications to follow live sales, labor costs and client statistics, and they have deployed tablets that can control the sound, lighting and TV channels in some restaurants.
Suzanne Dickson, product marketing manager for Motorola Solutions, told eWEEK that locationing and now “micro-locationing” are opening the doors for businesses to engage customers and provide contextual awareness.
“The business can understand customer preferences, purchasing patterns, zones where employees are needed, and areas where products are moving,” Dickson said. “The customer can receive offers directly related to the product in his aisle or drink specials upon arrival at his favorite restaurant, find the exact location of products in the store or request employee assistance. Businesses are now able to connect with their guests on a personal level.”
Dickson pointed out some of the specific requirements the restaurant had, including promotion of table-side ordering to increase customer satisfaction, staff efficiency and revenues.
“They knew they needed a secure WLAN with seamless roaming as it is critical that orders flow smoothly from the server’s ET1 device to the kitchen, especially while the servers are walking throughout the restaurant,” she said. “In addition to needing a robust solution, it was also important to have superior service and product support to ensure the proper implementation.’