In this edition of H&L Featured Insights, we will hear from our Queensland Account Manager, Julian Young, as he joins Queensland Hospitality Association (QHA) to reflect on the moments that defined the hospitality POS industry and the future trends that will potentially reshape and reignite our sector.
Serving the QLD hospitality market for nearly 20 years, Julian has a deep understanding of the evolution, changes and trends that are currently shaping the local Hospitality POS market. Read what Julian has to say…
What sort of changes have you seen in the market for customer service software over the past 12 months?
Due to the ever-changing restrictions, our customers have had to move away from the classic order at the counter service style. Being able to provide a flexible platform to help them with this has been the main request from our customer base.
How has the pandemic affected your product rollouts?
As a business, we have had to become far more flexible with our rollouts during the first lockdown using remote resources for installs and training. We have used this experience to build more streamlined processes and are now rolling out new installs much more efficiently than we were before.
What is your biggest seller at the moment?
Our biggest seller at the moment is our new Order Display Monitor. We are finding customers are looking to streamline their processes as well as gain a better understanding of the issues they are seeing with changes in service style.
What’s the latest on the hardware side of things?
We’ve seen a big increase in demand for mobile tablets allowing wait staff to take orders directly at the table as restrictions on ‘vertical consumption’ have been imposed in many precincts throughout the pandemic. We are also seeing a shift away from the classic kitchen and dispense printers due to the reduced running costs of digital order displays in addition to the power of the reporting data to track production and order delivery times.
Are you seeing more people using phones rather than credit cards for payment? If so, how is that working in terms of hardware and software side of things?
A greater number of people are using their mobile phones for both contactless payments as well as taking advantage of Table Ordering solutions like me&u, Mr Yum, and HungryHungry. In fact, we have already been seeing examples of venues where mobile app ordering is the predominant method of processing orders.
What’s next for pubs and clubs in terms of Point of Sale technology?
Data. I think that the industry is starting to see the advantage of analysing both in-venue data to look for ways to make service faster and more economical as well as customer data to better understand their patrons’ buying behaviour and drive sales.
What do you think is the most important reason for having cutting-edge POS equipment in place?
Used correctly, the data you can get from a system like H&L POS through both reporting and data integrations is invaluable to any publican looking at increasing turnover and cutting costs in the current environment. Additionally, it is critical for any cutting-edge POS system to have an extensive list of integrations to allow operators to take full advantage of all of the critical and emerging third-party technologies available to the industry today.
Is there anything of relevance to our hotel and pub managers that you would like to see?
For hotels and pubs, it is important not to forget the basics, particularly in these uncertain times; stock and labour control and data analysis. A lot of publicans would be amazed at how much data is available to them if the right systems are used in the right way. There are ways to not only see exactly what is going on in your venue in detail but also who your customers are so you can tailor your product to suit your market.
Hospitality peers, we’re here to help you.
It’s been undoubtedly one of the toughest years for the great people in hospitality. But here we can see a brighter future ahead for all of us – one that is paired with great technology, better customer experiences, and a more profitable hospitality POS industry.
We will work with you to grow your business.
H&L POS has been at the forefront of technology in the hospitality and food and beverage industry for over 30 years. We provide Point of Sale with extensive Back of House, and a fully integrated suite of hospitality solutions.
As hospitality people at heart, H&L understand the critical requirements for each food and beverage operation. We have staff in every state of Australia providing direction and advice as you grow and as technology changes.
As always, remember that we are here to assist your business in any way possible. Call us at 1800 778 340, or email [email protected] to discuss your venue’s needs.