When you look out and see a long queue at your service point, what does it mean to you? Lots of customers ready to buy—or lots of customers who’ll walk out in a moment?
Whichever way you view it, I think your best bet is to view it as an opportunity.
The eat-ins and eat-outs of hospitality
Restaurant-to-consumer delivery is booming. We can expect around 80 percent more home deliveries over the next five years1. But the same can’t be said of dining out. So, how do merchants keep people coming back through their doors?
It could be as simple as fighting fire with fire. Online turned home delivery into an easier, more fun experience. Why not use the same thought to change eating out? In fact, why not use it for the rest of the sector—theatres, cinemas, airports, hotels, stadia and the rest?
In the hospitality sector, it’s no longer just the central event that makes a visit worthwhile. From a play to a match, a film to a gig, the whole experience has to be special from the moment people enter to the moment they leave. And people expect it to be on their own terms.
Quit the queue
So earn those brownie points by getting rid of queuing. Let your customers settle down in a nice comfy chair instead, while they look at the menu and place an order without queuing or searching for a waiter. Or give someone the power to get a freshly brewed coffee from a pickup point and head straight to their seat. And do so without an app in sight. After all, that’s what Cybersource and wi-Q are doing for the sector.
Never miss a goal again
I find our new relationship with wi-Q incredibly exciting. wi-Q is an innovative cloud-based service that people log onto from their mobile devices. They just connect, look at the outlet’s menu, order and pay. Then they have their order delivered to their seat or table or pick it up from a service point. They don’t miss a goal, a curtain call or even a drum solo (hold that last thought!). And because they don’t need to download an app, or create an account, even transient consumers can use a venue’s food and beverage services.
Here’s why I think wi-Q is exciting
It cuts down on queuing
Most customers quit queuing if they have to wait longer than around six minutes2. With wi-Q, there’s no queuing, just satisfied customers.
It’s convenient for your customers
Customers can place their order with you and pay, wherever they are: by the pool, waiting for a show to start, or even still in bed. They could even order at Red Eye Coffee in Ireland and order a poolside canapé at The Atlantis in Dubai under the same account.
It’s good for your staff as well
Customers like wi-Q. So do staff, because they aren’t tied to the ordering and payment process.
It’s quick to set up
It took Red Eye Café³ in Ireland just four weeks to have a branded wi-Q mobile ordering and payment solution up and running. Now their lunchtime bottlenecks are a thing of the past.
Making innovation pay
Fraud and risk can be real dangers for any ordering and payment platform. We’re a leading payment management company. So, we can offer wi-Q and its customers our high levels of protection. We also help its customers to offer a wide range of payment methods, including preferred local payments. That’s particularly important because of its global service.
And, of course, there’s one other factor. At Cybersource, we believe that merchants with innovative thinking deserve our support if they’re going to succeed in the face of disruption. Just like wi-Q.
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