Dishoom, the exclusive Bombay café in London has chosen NFS Technology’s specialist Aloha POS software as its management system of choice to enable a smooth running service at all its prestigious London locations.
London based Dishoom, with café sites in Shoreditch, Kings Cross and Covent Garden, draws upon the heritage and tradition of old cafés with all-day menus paying homage to the food of Bombay.
As the business is growing, its management team looked to adopt a software system to enable tighter control and mobility alongside organising staff and maintaining a positive guest experience to ensure each café was running at optimum capability.
NFS’s Aloha system was selected due to its all-encompassing nature to enable full management, including measurements and reporting capability in real time. Aloha has also allowed Dishoom to monitor social media activity and customer engagement to ensure any comments are acknowledged and responded to as quickly as possible.
Says Brian Trollip, Dishoom’s Head of Operations: “Dishoom’s philosophy is steeped in the traditional values of Bombay, bringing the culture, vibe and eating styles to London and we are really thrilled with how it has been received, leading us to grow and establish a further two cafes with more in the pipeline.
“However, with growth, we have to be careful not to lose this essence, which takes intensive management control and focused mobility.
Aloha has proven to be a powerful standalone POS software solution that provides all the information and more to ensure the smooth running of our cafes. We especially like the link of social media so we can see all the feedback from our loyal customer base.”
Aloha from NFS is proven to optimise real time restaurant management and actively increases revenues. With NFS Aloha Orderman, Dishoom can optimise hand held devices specifically designed to deliver orders straight from the table to the kitchen.
In addition, using, Dishoom is using NFS specialist hosted solutions including Restaurant Guard, Gift Card, Loyalty and Insight alongside specialists CFC software to enable management of all three Café locations from just the one unique system.
Luis de Souza, CEO of NFS Technology Concludes:
“Dishoom is a unique dining concept that has paid particular attention to recreate a Bombay café experience in London. With such a specific formula to follow, the focus must be on creating the right vibe to remain successful using a combination of highly reliable technology to run the restaurant operation and great customer facing solutions such as mobile ordering integrated credit cards and social media which deliver a total experience for both the restaurant operator and the guest.”
If there’s one thing that’s appreciated at Luigi Malones, it’s a loyal customer. And with a new loyalty programme provided by Aloha EPOS from NFS Hospitality, the customers are returning in droves – and enjoying a range of rewards as well.
The Irish chain has restaurants in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. Named after an imaginary Italian who loved spaghetti, Luigi Malones is a very popular family-style restaurant.
To build business, a loyalty programme was set up a few years ago, but there was no link to the chain’s in-house till system. As a result, customer transactions and points were sometimes lost. So in April 2006, Aloha Enterprise was installed on a hosted basis, saving the chain any new investment in IT and assuring complete reliability.
The Hosted Solution
According to Luis DeSouza, Managing Director of NFS, the hosted solution represents a major trend in hospitality software: outsourcing of head office IT. “This solution allows any client to link its loyalty programme to its EPOS. The client saves significant money as no investment in IT is required. It also saves on administration time at head office and, as Aloha Enterprise is an online system, it provides access to information from any point in the world,” he comments.
Peter Darragh, Day Manager at the Temple Bar restaurant in Dublin, says the linked system has exceeded his expectations. He also appreciates Aloha’s flexibility. “It’s completely configurable,” he says. “If we want to link it to a particular printer for the use of waiting staff, it’s no problem. It’s also easy to make any seasonal changes to our menu.”
“I used to work for a hospitality software company so I know POS systems,” continues Peter. “Installing Aloha was the smoothest transition I have ever seen – it took only two days. And as it’s a hosted system designed for head office use, we get an overview of all three restaurants without having to contact them separately. This saves a lot of admin time.”
The Customer Royalty Card – for Rewards and Promotions
Luigi Malones’ new programme is called the ‘Customer Royalty Card’, with customers accumulating ‘royalty points’ each time they pay their bill. The card automatically tracks and updates expenditure and customers may use the cards at all three restaurants.
In just a few months, the Temple Bar restaurant alone attracted more than 500 customers to its loyalty programme. “We have a good clientele and they can see the benefits,” Peter says. “With the loyalty card they know exactly how many points they accrue with each visit as it’s right on the bill. They don’t have to wait for the statement.”
For the chain, the biggest benefit is that all the data capture is done by Aloha. “The loyalty programme does not increase our workload at all,” notes Peter. “It’s a totally streamlined system.”
In addition, Luigi Malones runs a lunch promotion: the 10th lunch is free – and it’s shown automatically on the card.”The customers are really happy and we’re happy as well. Not only are we getting lots of new and return business but the system is great for training purposes. Aloha is very intuitive so it takes only fifteen minutes to train a new employee. It really is user-friendly.”
Peter stresses how much he likes the support he gets from NFS. “The tech team really know their stuff,” he says.
Next Step – Corporate Loyalty?
Going forward, Luigi Malones is considering the introduction of a Corporate Royalty Card. “We’re starting to look at it,” says Peter. “We’re already making a list of companies and we plan to start tasting evenings soon. As the customer loyalty card works so well, we believe that companies will also be interested. And we know we can rely on Aloha Enterprise to handle all the new business we can generate.”
It’s a brave man who launches a privately-owned, independent coffee shop in an area surrounded by the likes of Costa, Caffè Nero and Starbucks. But that’s what John Wheeler did and, six years on, business is good.
John puts the secret of his success down to a mixture of quality service from polite and courteous staff, his own blend of fair trade coffee – and the versatility of a revenue generating loyalty card system that’s part of his Aloha point of sale software.
Before opening Coffee Bamber in Darlington’s Cornmill Shopping Centre, John ran a hotel, where he used roomMaster property management software from NFS Technology. So, when he needed a sophisticated point of sale system for his newly-opened coffee shop, he turned again to NFS, who demonstrated and then installed Aloha.
“Day to day, Aloha Quickservice covers every aspect of our point of sale needs and simplifies operations for staff, putting everything at their fingertips on a touch screen,” says John.
“Behind the scenes, it’s ideal for me. I don’t go into the shop every day, but from my home office I can connect to the system remotely, to keep myself up to date and see how business is moving in real time. I can also update new product details and pricing remotely, whilst using Aloha for stock control means our waste is down to one per cent.”
But, for John it’s the way Aloha handles his loyalty card system that has proved to be a winner for generating new customers and keeping them coming back for more.
“We started offering loyalty cards from day one,” says John. “We operate two types. One is a reward card that gives points on what customers buy. This has been tremendously successful, with around 7,000 customers using the cards.”
“The other card is a preferential one for senior citizens. When they hand their card over, they get their normal points, but they also automatically get 10% discount. It saves the trouble or embarrassment of customers having to tell staff that they are senior citizens when they order.”
“For both cards, customers can use their points at any time against partial payment of as little as 40p, right across our full range of products.”
“This is the biggest advantage to the business. Customers are really insistent on getting their points. Once a customer has a card they just keep coming back. And, of course, we can monitor that in the system.”
The importance of loyalty cards to Coffee Bamber was ably demonstrated when their EPOS system went down on a Saturday morning. Staff recorded points manually for addition to accounts, but it was clear that customers didn’t entirely trust that, and were likely to start drifting away. A call to NFS solved the problem fast.
“NFS technologists found another machine for us that had been used for demos,” says John. “They programmed it and sent it to us. In no time we were up and running again. Without NFS’ assistance in finding an EPOS that our cash flow could meet, we would have been in a lot of trouble.”
What kind of service do you expect in a fine dining restaurant that prides itself on its timeless elegance? A waiter taking your order with a quill pen on parchment maybe? Well, no. This is the 21st Century and waiters today are more likely to be at your table with a hand-held digital device. Which, if it is not handled well, can present a problem.
The challenge for restaurateurs is how to use the latest technology to enhance the customer experience without it becoming intrusive.
It’s a delicate balance that Quilon, London’s only Michelin starred south Indian restaurant, has met and resolved with the help of Aloha Point of Sale software from NFS Technology.
Quilon prides itself on creating experimental Indian dishes, complemented by fine speciality beers and an exceptional wine list that has won the Wine Spectator’s prestigious Award of Excellence. The restaurant has retained its Michelin Star five years running.
To optimise restaurant and bar management, Quilon uses Aloha for seamless integration between stock control, labour management, loyalty and gift cards, head office management, table reservations, guest management, tableside ordering and mobile payment systems.
When the restaurant was refurbished, it was decided to take the mobility route coupling Aloha with Partner Tech’s EM-220 hand-held terminal to take orders and relay them wirelessly to the kitchen.
Executive Chef and Director of Operations Sriram Aylur admits that, in some ways, it was a risk. “The Quilon is characterised by a colonial-style air of timeless elegance,” he says. “It was important that the technology did not get in the way of the customers fine dining experience.”
“Maybe five years ago it would have been different. Diners might have felt a restaurant such as ours should include waiters who took orders in the traditional way with a pen and paper. But today, customers are more familiar with technology and, in fact, are just as likely to be using their own smart phones in the restaurant.”
“The important thing for us is that the technology must be subtle and not come between the customer and the waiter.”
So for Quilon customers, mobile technology has proved no barrier to good service. For the restaurant staff, it has also proved to be a winner too. Waiters and kitchen staff are all comfortable with the system, which has proved very easy to use.
“In the past, when a waiter took a written order, it was open to mistakes,” says Sriram. “A misunderstanding between the waiter and the kitchen might have resulted in having to take the order twice. That wasted time, affected customer satisfaction and ultimately impacted on revenue.”
“The way we work now, waiters take orders quickly and accurately, then send them straight through to the kitchen, eliminating the chance of error. The ease with which the system works ensures that the interaction between waiter and diner is not affected.”
“It’s a win-win situation for both customers and restaurant staff.”
