The restaurant industry is one of the largest employers in the United States, providing jobs to over 15 million people – around 10% of the overall U.S. workforce. Different countries and cultures around the world prefer different types of service – fast food, table, counter service – what they all have in common is customers who are not only looking for good food but also for an enjoyable experience. Oracle Hospitality Symphony Cloud Service, built for this billion-dollar industry, includes tools for small businesses, restaurant chains and venues that ensure timely guest seating, loyalty tracking, food delivery and more.
Restaurant chain benefits from Oracle’s innovation
Wagamama is a British chain that serves Asian food across over 150 restaurants in 20 countries. As a restaurant that serves ‘good food, fast’, recognising customers’ needs and acting quickly is key. Wagamama adopted Oracle Symphony as an innovative solution to integrate all the stages of the customer experience.
The Wagamama experience starts when the customer is welcomed at the door and seated. A member of staff greets them at the table within a minute and takes drink orders via handheld devices that send the order straight to the bar staff, who can prepare the drinks and bring them to the table. The use of handheld devices mean the staff can easily manage orders without having to run between the guest, till, bar and kitchen, making the process quicker and smoother as well as avoiding forgetting any orders. Food orders are sent to the chefs’ touch screens, helping to keep the kitchen organised. Once the food is ready, a ticket can be printed to organise the food for the front-of-house staff to take to the tables. After finishing their meal, customers have the option to pay immediately by downloading Qkr!, an app from Mastercard that is integrated into the Oracle system, where they can review their order and make payment rather than waiting for a member of staff. Furthermore, the Wagamama website and app are also able to send orders direct to the kitchen. With Oracle Hospitality Symphony Cloud Service, Wagamama can be consistent in its delivery and continue moving forward with its expansion plans.
Small business retains customers with seamless ordering
Oracle Symphony is also used by stand-alone restaurants. Caractère is an independent restaurant in London. Opening a restaurant with a new and unique concept is a challenge for any restauranteur, who must create a signature menu that customers would like to return to. The quality of the food and looking after their guests is essential for this type of business, one of the main reasons for owners Emily Roux and Diego Ferrari to adopt Oracle Food and Beverage software. Roux and Ferrari opted for a combination of Symphony Cloud Point of Sale Platform, Oracle MICROS Workstation 6 family and the Compact Workstation 310, which has provided them with simple but important benefits like a seamless ordering process that informs cooks clearly about customers’ dietary requirements or allergies and avoids any slip-ups or confusion. This process saves time for the front-of-house staff, who can concentrate on ensuring their guests have a positive experience.
According to the National Restaurant Association in the U.S-
- 52% consumers say they would rather spend money on an experience such as a restaurant or other activity, than purchasing something from a store.
- 50% consumers say the availability of a customer loyalty and reward program would make them choose one restaurant over another.
- Two-thirds of consumers say their favourite restaurant foods provide flavours they can’t easily duplicate at home.
- 26% consumers say the availability of tableside electronic ordering and payment options would make them choose one restaurant over another.
Pricing and cashing at events venues
The Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg organises around 140 events every year. The venue replaced legacy systems with Oracle Hospitality Symphony Point of Sale to manage their bars, restaurants, fast food outlets and kiosks more efficiently and maximise sales during short windows – a few hours before the event, during intermissions and minutes after the event is over. Through adding contactless card processing, hand-held devices and self-service ordering touch screens to their retail options, they have reduced queues, have faster transactions and created a better experience for their customers. The order and replenishment real-time inventory functions provide better control and cash management, as well as real-time reporting and forecasting.
Toyota Stadium, a 20,000-seat football stadium in Texas, hosts a range of events from high school and professional football matches to music concerts. The Event Based Pricing functionality of the Oracle Food and Beverage suites, enables organisers to prepare menu templates for each type of event, based on different guests’ preferred food choices and with adequate pricing for the type of guest. It enables the team at Toyota Stadium to offer combo meals or remove certain items when required, allowing the hosts to provide unique fan experiences and increase revenue without huge labour costs, usually involved with making item and price changes across hundreds of menus throughout the stadium.
Other functionalities of Oracle Symphony Cloud Service
- Conversational ordering feature that improves accuracy and speed of service
- Automatic combo and fixed-price menu recognition features, calculating special price
- Online and call-ahead orders to the kitchen based on when they are needed
- Reservations and waitlist table management feature
- Accurate food delivery and option to hand out separate bills with the seat management feature
- Staff scheduling, ensuring different locations are never understaffed or overstaffed