Mobile order and pay technology is giving restaurants and bars another way to reduce checkout friction while allowing customers to place orders directly from their smartphones. Instead of waiting for a server or bartender, customers can order and pay through an app and simply pick up their purchases when they are ready.
Barpay is bringing this approach to participating bars and restaurants through a mobile application that combines ordering, payments, and marketing capabilities. For merchants, the technology could help improve operational efficiency while creating another channel for engaging customers and encouraging repeat business.
The mobile order to pay feature is becoming increasingly popular with businesses and consumers alike. This handy tool allows customers to order and pay for their goods and services using their phone, which is convenient for both parties.
Mobile Ordering Offers Benefits for Businesses and Consumers
For businesses, mobile order to pay can help streamline their operations and reduce costs. It can also help them keep track of their inventory levels and customer orders. In addition, it can help businesses reduce the risk of fraud.
For consumers, mobile order to pay is a convenient way to shop. It eliminates the need to carrying around cash or credit cards, and it can also help you keep track of your spending.
Barpay Brings Mobile Order and Pay to Bars and Restaurants
No need to belly up to the bar anymore. That is, if your neighborhood pub or eatery is part of Barpay’s mobile app network. The California-based developer provides participating bars and restaurants an integrated app that includes marketing offers and fixed fee payment processing by Braintree. Just another example of how mobile order and pay continues to expand, with food and drink establishments being among the most popular venues used by U.S. consumers. Make that an extra dry martini, shaken and not stirred.
A Charlotte Agenda article, which is excerpted below, discusses more on this topic:
Barpay, a mobile app that lets you bypass the wait at busy venues by ordering drinks and food straight from your phone, is now available in Charlotte.
We all know the scene. It’s a packed Friday night and a sea of eager drinkers, shoulder to shoulder and about eight deep, stands between you and the bartender you’ll still have to fight to flag down once you get up front.
This bottleneck at the bar is a standard hurdle in any popular nightlife venue but Barpay creates a workaround by decentralizing drink ordering and payment processing from the bar and putting it in the hands of customers. The results for participating venues, they say, are increased sales, smoother operations behind the bar, happier drinkers and valuable push notification access to your most loyal customer base.
Just head to the designated Barpay pickup zone, show the bartender the order number on your screen matches the ticket with your drink and your evening is underway — tip included and with no tab to close at the end of the night. It’s kind of like using the Starbucks app to order in advance. Venues with numbered table service can also choose to deliver straight to your seat.
Restaurants and bars can be particularly well suited for mobile order and pay because customers frequently encounter lines, crowded service areas, and delays when trying to place an order or close a tab. Moving ordering and payment to the customer’s smartphone could reduce those bottlenecks while allowing employees to focus more attention on preparing and delivering orders.
Mobile order and pay services such as Barpay also demonstrate how smartphones can change more than the payment itself. By combining ordering, payment processing, loyalty opportunities, and customer communication in a single experience, these applications could become valuable tools for merchants looking to improve both operations and the customer experience.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Director, Merchant Services at Mercator Advisory Group
