Closing out the tab in a busy restaurant or bar just got easier with the help of a mobile-payments application appropriately called “Tabbedout” from ATX Innovation Inc.
Tabbedout software goes on consumers’ smartphones and on merchants’ point-of-sale systems. Merchants pay a monthly fee for the service and for marketing add-ons, with the prices set by value-added resellers.
When consumers who have the software on their smartphone enter an establishment, they use the device to open a tab, says Rick Orr, the company’s CEO. Servers enter food and drink orders into the system, and consumers can check their smartphones to see their purchases accumulating. The point-of-sale system also may access to the consumers’ payment card information for use in paying the bill, plus a tip, in case the customer leaves without paying himself, he says.
All of the data are encrypted, Orr tells PaymentsSource.
When consumers decide to leave, they close their tab using their smartphone, complete with minimum tip, suggested tip or a tip of their own choosing, says Orr. The only time required to close the tab is the time it takes to enter the information on the smartphone.
The process frees the consumer from the need to attract a server’s attention to call for a paper tab, wait for the tab to arrive, hand over a card or other form of payment, and wait again for the server to complete the transaction. In a bar, the customer may have put a card on file, and the staff has to retrieve it before completing the transaction, adding even more time, Orr says.
The traditional total transaction time typically comes to four minutes–a significant amount of time the consumer could have spent focusing attention on a spouse, friend or associate sharing the meal, according to Orr.
For the restaurant or bar owner, the staff saves the valuable minutes and can spend them waiting on other customers, he notes, adding that 66% of bar revenues are collected during peak times.
The cost to the business typically comes to about the equivalent of two tabs per month, Orr says. Business owners can download the application over the phone.
The company, which also does business under the Tabbedout name, is concentrating its efforts on entertainment districts, particularly in Austin, Texas, and Portland, Ore., two cities known for their restaurants and nightclubs.
More than 300 locations in 96 cities or suburbs have signed up, Orr says.
Tabbedout entices consumers to download the software onto their smartphones by generating articles in the local consumer press, creating buzz on social media, putting stickers on the doors and point-of-sale terminals of participating businesses, and persuading wait staffs to hand out cards that explain the service.
Consumers may download the application by scanning a printed code and entering information for as many cards as they like, Orr says, noting that card information is encrypted and consumers enter it only once.
The application also includes a global positioning system that tells consumers how close they are to participating venues.
The businesses that use the service also may avail themselves of marketing services that send text messages or emails touting specials offers, Orr says.
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