In 2019 more than one diner would have gotten up from the table if they had been forced to download a restaurant menu on your mobile after reading a QR. But the asepsis imposed by the pandemic forced to use the digitization even to those who have an aversion -especially due to age- to the dictatorship of the technology. That first step has been essential so that, without noise but without pause, mobile phones are becoming the tool that avoid having to wait for the bill in a restaurant, pay the waiter and wait for the return, if applicable. The resource is oxygenating the templates, which are so short this season, defend its instigators and the user entrepreneurs.
There will be those who will criticize that the system (it is not an application, but the invoice is accessed by the QR of the table) replaces the worker and can lower costs. The two companies that are implementing it most strongly in Barcelona (and the rest of Spain) insist that the objective is not that, but to support the service, so that it has more time to serve and recommend the customer, instead of acting as a cashier.
Barcelona startup
The formula is simple, they relate from yummin, which is the Barcelona startup – born a few months ago from a business accelerator and already multi-awarded – that competes with Sunday’s offer (of French roots) to digitize payment. The diner chooses when to pay the bill, downloads it in seconds with the table code, checks it, can even divide the price per diner and, after answering if he liked the service, leave a tip as a percentage or euros. Even receive the invoice later by email. The waiter receives notice that the table has been cleared.
Its CEO and founder Christian Campillo ensures that it makes life easier for waiters, customers and restaurateurs. The first, because they can save time to “focus on service”, to the point that their reports ensure that tips grow between 55 and 400%. The second saves between 10 and 20 minutes that the ordinary ritual can take, which “enhances your experience.” And the owners, because they manage to improve the turnover of tables and the average ticket by 12-15%.
The same person in charge says that there is also more interaction with the client with subsequent reviews and soon Yummin will apply a loyalty formula based on the money spent and accumulated for future reservations.
In the Catalan capital, many restaurant groups test it in one establishment before deploying it in the rest. In the restaurant Mother Lievito from Eixample, Alberto Barsanti explains that they have been using it since January. Its generalization “will take time like any innovation”, he believes, but it is being well accepted by users, especially those under 60 years of age, because “it allows us to improve care”.
Also choice of digital plates
Expanding groups such as Isabella’s have already adapted it throughout their network of establishments in Barcelona with the help of sunday. To the point that at its next opening, the restaurant Anita’s next to Hotel W, it will have a double role, not only for digitized payment, but also to order dishes. They will test this system in their most casual and lowest-average-ticket business (‘street food’ style with burgers, tacos, salads and brunch), but also as a response to the serious hiring problems they are encountering. In this way, the staff will focus only on serving the food, says Marco Garí.
In more valued spaces, the sector agrees that the advice of the waiter or maître is decisive for a good service and rule out substituting the human element.
Related news
On Sunday, its payment system, born in the middle of 2020, already works in about 80 restaurants. Its promise is to streamline the tedious task of payment and collection, turning it into an operation that takes 10 seconds.
The irruption of new technologies in everyday gastronomy (beyond culinary processes) is valid in other aspects, even with the choice of dishes. As reported by this newspaper, the Casa Amàlia restaurant displays its up-to-date information on tablets, detailing the proximity origin of the ingredients and where to get them if they are suppliers from the Concepció annex market.