The digital revolution continues to make its presence felt in the restaurant sector with the launch of a new, waiter-less payment solution from London-based app developers Flypay.
The Flypay app has been designed to improve customer experience by cutting bill delays, whilst also boosting merchants’ floor staff efficiency and lowering costs. This functionality has already seen Wahaca and Burrito Mama integrate the pay-at-table and order-ahead solutions.
VC funding
The company has also just received £1 million in VC funding from mobile payment specialists Entreé Capital, following an earlier round 6 months before from industry veterans. The funding provides Flypay with support to scale the proposition across a number of other high street brands this year, and to develop further cutting edge solutions for the restaurant and pub industry to transform the customer experience and enhance operator revenue.
The free Flypay app allows diners
- to pay in under 60 seconds – using their smart phone to check, split and pay their bill … the standard chip and pin process takes an average of 10.2 minutes.
- to ease the frustration of sorting ‘who pays what’ by enabling a table to pay off specific items individually, or split the bill equally between friends.
Flypay offers restaurants
- simplicity of use – with competitors, the process is much more convoluted. Users must firstly ‘check-in’ at a restaurant to generate a four-digit code. This then has to be given to the waiter, which allows a diner to link to their bill from the Point Of Sale device, decreasing restaurant efficiency. In contrast, the Flypay system is entirely ‘waiter-less’ and retrieving the bill is instant via the use of QR codes and NFC tags.
- superior insight … Flypay technology also offers increased digital marketing opportunities to merchants, giving them access to a broader range of consumer data. This allows them to personalise the customer experience or reward, based on actual customer behaviour.
- The option of a “Powered by Flypay” branded app that can overlay the restaurant’s own brand – this includes the Flypay payment solution and various loyalty programme options, as well as order-at-table or order-ahead functionality.
Wahaca and Burrito Mama
Wahaca are using the Flypay app as a speedy pay-at-table solution, and Burrito Mama are using Flypay within their customised order-ahead app. This allows customers to order a burrito in seconds as they approach the store, so that it is ready to collect when they arrive.
“We have worked with the Flypay team to make sure that the product is 100% relevant and applicable for Wahaca’s customers.” said Mark Selby, Founder of Wahaca. “I am confident to say that what Flypay offers and continues to develop is the future of restaurant payment solutions. It is, by far, the most impressive of all the pay-at-table technologies that we have seen, and we are committed to integrating this into our business.”
Customer frustration with problems paying for a meal
The idea for Flypay was born out of research that highlighted how paying for a meal was the most frustrating part of the dining experience – participants frequently cited the time taken, difficulty of finding the waiter, and complexity of splitting as spoiling what was otherwise an enjoyable night out.
Tom Weaver, co-founder of Flypay said:
“By the time customers are ready for the bill they’ve finished the fun bit of their evening and are ready to move on.
“We’ve focused on speeding up the ten minutes it usually takes to pay. This not only makes for happier and more contented customers, it also improves the efficiency – and profitability – of the restaurant itself, leaving staff to focus on providing a superior experience earlier in the process.”
Customer engagement opportunity
“For the restaurant trade, there’s definitely a huge customer engagement opportunity that comes from working with new and smart mobile technology. Flypay has moved things significantly forward as, up until now, there hasn’t been a smart and cost effective option for restaurants who want to adopt mobile technology into its brand.
“By integrating directly with POS providers, we’ve built something that is more significant than just processing payments – Flypay opens up innovative opportunities for ordering, payment and loyalty all in one mobile solution.
“Whilst we’ve improved the efficiency and cut the cost of using mobile technology for payments, we also see huge potential in helping restaurants push the boundaries and use Flypay’s functionality to supplement their digital marketing strategies. Through the data the platform generates, it will provide merchants with smarter ways to personalise the dining experience for their existing customers.
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