4-minute read ---
Of all the restaurant industry’s sectors, the coronavirus pandemic most severely impacted bars. In 2019, bars and taverns made $22 billion in overall annual sales. That number dropped 65% by the end of 2020. Because they are designed specifically for close, casual social gatherings, bars were quick to shut down and some of the last businesses to fully re-open. However, lockdown restrictions and pandemic-related mandates not only hurt bars in the short-term, it threatened their future as customers turned to crafting drinks, cocktails, and hosting happy hours from home.
Still, many bar owners are successfully trying to shadow what many restaurants are doing by offering contactless options for purchasing drink and food items that allow them to sustain their business. When permitted by their state legislation, bars offered take-out and delivery drinks, appetizers, dishes, and do-it-yourself cocktail kits. This also includes at-home tutorials and live video classes for crafting cocktails by customers at home to promote their brand and business, creating a following that will benefit them as customers come back into bar environments. Bars also began selling branded t-shirts, stickers, drink containers, and other merchandise to off-set losses from food and drinks.
Even as customers make their way back into bars, many of these innovative products and solutions will remain in the bar industry, helping bar owners and operators establish new standards for how they serve and engage their customers.
Aldelo Express offers bars and taverns flexible and scalable point-of-sale solutions that move with the needs of their business. Users select from a variety of hardware and software solutions to customize their operation with merchant- and customer-facing applications. Combined with Masa+ Online Ordering, developed to seamlessly integrate with Aldelo Express, bars complement and expand their in-house solutions with customizable digital menus and an online storefront. Masa+ supports multi-store native digital loyalty, reward, gift card, and coupon programs, all managed in the Aldelo Express cloud back-office.
Still, many bar owners are successfully trying to shadow what many restaurants are doing by offering contactless options for purchasing drink and food items that allow them to sustain their business. When permitted by their state legislation, bars offered take-out and delivery drinks, appetizers, dishes, and do-it-yourself cocktail kits. This also includes at-home tutorials and live video classes for crafting cocktails by customers at home to promote their brand and business, creating a following that will benefit them as customers come back into bar environments. Bars also began selling branded t-shirts, stickers, drink containers, and other merchandise to off-set losses from food and drinks.
Even as customers make their way back into bars, many of these innovative products and solutions will remain in the bar industry, helping bar owners and operators establish new standards for how they serve and engage their customers.
Aldelo Express offers bars and taverns flexible and scalable point-of-sale solutions that move with the needs of their business. Users select from a variety of hardware and software solutions to customize their operation with merchant- and customer-facing applications. Combined with Masa+ Online Ordering, developed to seamlessly integrate with Aldelo Express, bars complement and expand their in-house solutions with customizable digital menus and an online storefront. Masa+ supports multi-store native digital loyalty, reward, gift card, and coupon programs, all managed in the Aldelo Express cloud back-office.
Customers use online ordering solutions in-store to bypass lines, reduce wait times, and facilitate orders requiring fewer staff. Bars can use QR codes to market online storefronts, digital menus, online ordering availability and payments, such as gift and loyalty programs. Customers simply scan a QR code to launch an online solution, offering a visual-based ordering alternative in loud environments.
For noisy bar and club environments, Aldelo also offers visual-based order confirmations through vibrant interactive multimedia rear-displays. Operators select from multiple customer user interface (UI) configurations, providing interactive experiences between staff and customers while providing fast and accurate order verifications, protecting food costs and streamlining in-store operations.
Multimedia customer displays provide options for combining text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single presentation, enhancing a bar environment with interactive digital marketing solutions. The application allows owners and operators to communicate their brand, menu, and events through vibrant imagery and graphics to capture an audience. Partnering with local business owners to cross-promote complimentary food, activities, and services also increases brand awareness and helps generate new customers.
All-in-one mobile handheld devices let staff roam inside the bar and engage customers outdoors. The devices are small enough to fit in a pocket, but powerful enough to support the same POS software as countertop terminals. Staff easily open, edit, and complete orders and payments from anywhere with a WiFi or Cellular Data connection. Aldelo Express enables bar owners and operators to orchestrate a complete operation, syncing and managing in-store and online orders across all POS devices.
Learn more by contacting an Aldelo representative today at [email protected] or 925-621-2410
Restaurants that use ultra-competitive Aldelo Pay or Aldelo Partner Merchant Services obtain access to a Centralized Multi-Store Restaurant Technology Platform that includes Masa+ Online Ordering, Unlimited Software Releases, Unlimited Software Upgrades, and 24/7 Technical Support! *** Please contact an Aldelo representative today for more details, including a free Aldelo Express POS demo trial [email protected] | 877-639-8767 | [email protected] |
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