How contactless pay-at-the-table options can help increase table turnover

Tableside ordering and payment solutions are rapidly becoming the standard in modern restaurants. In an era when convenience is a high priority for most people, they continue to want a memorable dining experience that is personalized to meet their needs and preferences. 

These innovative solutions are what your restaurant needs to turn over tables more quickly, without making people feel rushed.

What is tableside ordering and payments?

Submitting a menu choice and eventually paying for it without the need to go to the cash register gives customers a way to engage with the restaurant positively without waiting for a server. This enhances the dining experience and minimizes wait times, while leading to faster turnover periods.

Two main sources of frustration for customers occur when they are waiting for a server to take their order, and when they want to leave but have yet to be given their bill. Tableside ordering and payments address both of these situations.

With tableside ordering, the control is literally in the hands of the customer. Instead of needing to wait for an overburdened server to finally approach them, they can submit their order directly to the kitchen via a tablet provided by the restaurant. 

With this method, there is less likelihood of omissions or errors, meaning that the patron has a better chance of getting the food items they want.

When the meal is finished and the guest wants to settle their bill, they use a digital payment method such as a credit or debit card, or an electronic wallet that communicates with the restaurant’s pay-at-the-table card reader. A receipt can be emailed or instantly printed.

From both the customer’s and the restaurant’s perspectives, this method is highly effective. A record of the transaction is stored in the POS system, enabling the eatery to track the preferences and buying behaviors of loyal guests. With this data at their disposal, they can curate future dining experiences that cater to each person’s unique profile.

Benefits of tableside payments for your restaurant.

Eateries that adopt contactless tableside payment options will quickly experience the benefits. 

These include happier employees, an improved customer experience, boosted levels of loyalty, faster and more accurate orders, and fewer voided payments.

Happier employees.

Placing the more mundane processes of ordering and paying in the control of customers bears fruit immediately. Servers and other staff members are now able to devote their time to answering diners’ questions, and otherwise elevating their experience. 

Ultimately, morale rises when staff time is spent on higher-level, more personal tasks that lead to faster table turnover rates, happier customers, and higher tip amounts.

Improved customer experience.

Simplifying customers’ ordering and payment experiences allows them to focus on enjoying their time at your restaurant. 

When you speed up the checkout process, the final memory that the patron has of the experience will likely be positive, a fact that may lead to positive reviews on social media, as well as a return visit from the happy reviewer.

Increased accuracy. 

When orders are submitted via a tablet and paid for with a pay-at-the-table card reader, everything from food choices to financial details are accurately recorded by the system and immediately transferred to the POS system for quick service restaurants. 

Taking payments at the table only requires one interaction with the server, making faster resolution possible and allowing customers to leave on their own schedule. Meanwhile, the table opens more quickly, paving the way for another party to sit down and enjoy your delicious offerings.

Better inventory tracking.

Finally, tableside solutions help to reduce delays that occur between processing an order and generating the ticket. The result of this lag can be costly inventory discrepancies and customer frustration, stemming from ordering items that are no longer in the kitchen’s inventory. 

By contrast, customer-driven ordering and payment solutions are in constant communication with the restaurant’s POS, whose inventory function tracks product quantities in real-time and can warn employees when specific items are no longer available.

When you run a restaurant, making even small adjustments in your internal processes can make a huge difference. A case in point happens when you choose to adopt tableside ordering and payments. 

To see how your eatery can benefit, talk to your payment services provider today. Before you know it, your staff, your customers, and your bottom line will all receive a boost.