The current challenge for hospitality businesses up and down the country is how to maintain high levels of service for customers with a reduced number of staff.
This article explores what an Isle of Wight company – ICR Systems – is doing to help Island business do just that.
The relevance of their products only increases as the lifting of Covid restrictions brings more visitors that will only add to pressure for IW hospitality businesses.
You’ll also learn about free trials they’re offering to Island businesses.
Using tech to improve customer experience
In Part 8 of News OnTheWight’s Deep Dive series looking at the hospitality crisis, we continue to seek out the positive solutions for those businesses who are finding recruitment and retention of staff difficult.
The long-established ICR Systems started supplying Island businesses with cash registers in the 1980s. They’re now known for supplying high tech solutions from their base in Newport and are the main supplier of electronic tills (EPoS in trade terms) on the Island they tell us.
Streamlining
News OnTheWight spoke with Chris Lawrence from ICR Systems Ltd to find out how his organisation has helped Island businesses adapt to trade in completely different ways since Lockdown: They have a number of different ways of helping those in the hospitality business.
As businesses have opened back up again, ICR Systems has been able to help them streamline their operations to deal with Covid-restriction demands, and keep service levels up with reduced staff.
Among the many products and services that ICR can offer, in this article we’ll take a look at two that can help transform hospitality businesses, the ByTable App and Waiter Call System.
Ordering from the table
The ByTable App is one product that has been really helpful for customers and businesses on the Isle of Wight.
The branded Web App allows a cafe or restaurant’s customers to browse the full range of dishes on offer and order from the table through the App.
With advanced ordering options, allowing selections to be customised – something really handy for allergy sufferers – customers get exactly what they want.
Payment is made through the App and unlike other ordering platforms that might typically charge up to 20 per cent commission on every transaction, there is no commission fee with ByTable, so 100 per cent of the profit stays in the pocket of the business.
All round convenience
As well as being a convenient tool for the customer when dining, the App acts as a constant reminder on customers’ phones, hopefully prompting them to revisit in the future.
Not only that, but a new feature means that customers can save their details to the App meaning they won’t need to fill them out each time they visit and order.
Lastly, the ByTable App can be easily adapted to a takeaway version enabling collection and delivery options.
Shaw: “They have come in and saved my business”
Sam Shaw, the Managing Director of the Fighting Cocks, loved the other products and services that ICR Systems have supplied. He said,
“We had about 300 covers outside and 140 inside pre-Covid, but are now down to 130 inside to comply with social distancing requirements. With the introduction of ICR technology, we have managed to regain our gross turnover similar to that of pre-Covid levels.
“The introduction of this technology to our business has made a dramatic difference. We would categorically not be trading to this level if we hadn’t embraced these wonderful products.
“I don’t think I can ever foresee a time when I’m going to return to bar ordering and those awful queues we used to get at the bar, which have now completely gone away.
“Most of our staff just seem to adapt to this technology so easily. It’s been designed in a very intuitive and easy manner to use. I think the customers are really impressed with how professional ICR have allowed us to become. They have come in and saved my business: Without them we would be possibly turning over 80 per cent less than we are at the moment.
“I would wholeheartedly recommend the App to anybody. Don’t do what I did and wait, please do it now because you will never regret it.”
Sam says anyone who looks at the comments and reviews via their social media accounts will find customers genuinely supporting everything that he has said in praise of the products installed by ICR Systems.
Waiter Call Systems
Another of the products that has shown businesses a better way of operating is the Waiter Call Systems.
Chris explained,
“We’ve been doing a lot with these Waiter Call Systems, which have been really embraced by a lot of businesses on the Isle of Wight.”
These consist of buttons that sit on the diner’s table, allowing customers to call the Front of House staff as and when they’re needed. The idea came about from the increased demand on those staff due to extra Covid restrictions, and customers finding it hard to get their attention.
The feedback from organisations who have taken up the new system has been really positive, Chris told us,
“Businesses have said the Waiter Call Systems have been a lifesaver. I could list 30 different organisations on the Island who have them, who’ll all say how imperative they are to the operation now.”
The results are clear to see for the businesses who have signed up to the new system: Trip Advisor reviews have praised the businesses highlighting the support provided for customers with the new “Covid buttons”.
How do they work?
The system has been designed to provide as seamless a service as possible, with waiting staff wearing a watch that alerts to which table needs attention when the customer would like to place their order, or pay their bill.
Knowing the exact reason for being called to a table means the waiting staff can provide a more efficient service: Avoiding back and forth visits to the table to find out exactly what it is the customer wants from them.
However, it doesn’t end there, the Waiter Call Systems also include a call button for the Kitchen to alert Front of House that an order is ready to be collected. This avoids the need for waiting staff to be hanging around the kitchen rather than refilling hand sanitisers or attending to customers.
Chris explained,
“We do a whole range of different buttons, indoor and outdoor, the latter was popular when things switched to outdoor dining only last year. That’s just one part of the solution that we’ve provided.”
Helping Island businesses
Last year after reading the many social media posts about Island businesses having to close their doors or needing to adapt to provide a delivery service in order to stay open, Chris made the decision to step in and offer support free for the Isle of Wight hospitality industry.
Aware that their online ordering module was only one piece of the jigsaw puzzle and that there were businesses not using ICR’s till system, Chris offered Point of Sale terminals free of charge for two months to assist struggling operations.
Support for charities
One organisation who benefitted from the generosity of ICR Systems and ICR Touch (who develop the software) was the sailing charity, UKSA. They were struggling to reopen and get going again after Lockdown, so hardware and software was gifted to allow the organisation, based in Cowes, allowing them to get back into business.
Simon Hamilton Director of Finance and Business Services at UKSA, said,
“Each year UKSA offers funded opportunities to thousands of young people from all over the UK, many of them from the Isle of Wight. Working with local and national partners is crucial to organisations like ours and the support of ICRTouch and ICR Systems has enabled us to adapt to the current needs of both our students and our staff in the changing world we find ourselves in.
“UKSA is honoured to receive this donation from ICRTouch and ICR Systems and we look forward to continuing working with them in the future.”
Fully adaptable
ICR’s systems have been designed to be easily adaptable, for example, for businesses changing from a collect only service, to delivery, or a table ordering service, the changes to the system can be just a few clicks away.
Depending on set ups and what’s required, ICR Systems offer trial periods for organisations to test out and see how the products can work hard for their business.
Find out more
It’s clear that ICR Systems care about the future of the hospitality industry on the Isle of Wight and that their products and services can help transform businesses.
Find out more by visiting their Website and if you come across a hospitality business that is struggling, give them the heads up that products from ICR Systems are worth looking into.
Our thanks to ICR Systems for sponsoring this event feature. They and other organisations taking paid promotion enables you to continue reading OnTheWight for free
