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New payment options increase efficiency
How mobile tablet solutions are changing the check-out line.
January 15, 2009
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Claude*Click here to view a slideshow of DTResearch products, including kiosk, mobile tablet, handheld and digital display offerings.
Restaurant operators are continually looking for ways to improve customer service and efficiencies. Implementing mobile handheld point-of-service devices is one way to keep customers from waiting, whether in long lines or for a credit card to be processed and returned.
A variety of mobile POS tools have emerged in recent years, from small handheld units to mobile tablets with larger screens. Depending on the platform, the devices can be programmed to perform a single function, such as process payment transactions, or handle multiple applications as a laptop would. This special report examines the benefits of using these wireless POS devices, particularly the mobile tablet.
Mobile tablets allow staff to take a store's POS system anywhere — into the drive-thru lane to speed up long lines of waiting cars, to curbside for payment processing, to tableside for order taking or payment and even to the back of house for inventory.
Mobile tablets like San Jose, Calif.-based DT Research Inc. 's WebDT Mobile Tablet typically come with 8- to 10-inch screens to allow access to more information at a glance.
WebDT Tablets can be programmed to be compatible with the store's POS system so staff members can enter orders as if they were at a terminal. When equipped with a mag-stripe reader, the mobile tablet also can accept credit card payments at the point of transaction.
Restaurant staff equipped with a mobile tablet can move anywhere in the store to take an order. Whether customers pay at that point or at the counter, the customer's order is being processed before he reaches the counter. Therefore, customers are less likely to leave the store because they don't want to wait.
While some quick-service restaurants have tried to accomplish line busting in drive-thru lanes by putting a laptop on a cart in the lane to take orders, mobile tablets are more practical.
"As these (mobile) units have gotten smaller and more durable, then obviously the advantage is they're lighter...they're easier (to handle), and you can actually hold them in your hand," said David Hale, vice president of program management for DT Research, which develops and manufactures a line of information appliances.
The WebDT 360 tablet, for example, weighs less than two pounds. A protective metal enclosure with rubber bumpers protects the unit if it is dropped, and the unit is durable enough to be used indoors or out. DT Research also offers ruggedized units for industrial use that are waterproof and dustproof.
"What we tried to do is design a unit that's durable but not as expensive as a fully ruggedized unit," Hale said.
ROI in efficiency as well as in dollars
Andre Nataf, strategic and multiunit manager for Menusoft Systems, developers of Digital Dining, said the return on investment for mobilizing POS devices is substantial.
One Digital Dining customer has seen an additional $75,000 to $100,000 a year after utilizing handhelds. Other restaurants have seen anywhere from 10 percent to 40 percent increase in gross income, he said.
"Basically, it comes down to one thing, and that's efficiency," Nataf said. "It maximizes efficiencies in a restaurant."
Whether used for line busting at curbside, in the drive-thru or at the counter mobile tablets and handheld units send orders into the kitchen more quickly.
"It changes the flow," Nataf said. "It's visible to the cust omer because it's speedier, but it's invisible because it doesn't disrupt the dining experience."
And mobile POS devices have uses beyond line busting. In addition to front-of-store order processing, mobile units also can be used for back-of-house inventory management. WebDT units, for example, offer a barcode reader as an add-on for such processes.
"It's interesting all the different applications customers can do with it," Nataf said.
This is an excerpt from the special publication Mobile Tablets, Handhelds Mobilize Your Workforce to Increase Productivity and Improve Service. Click here to download this special report.
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