Summer dining - "going Dutch" made easy

Hospitality venues are getting ready to make Summer dining experiences memorable and catering for diners' payment preferences can make all the difference.

With the long, hazy Summer days ahead, diners will be taking every opportunity to meet up with friends and family at their favourite bars, restaurants and cafes.

Whether in small or large groups, nowadays we all want to pay in different ways. Some with a credit or debit card, others with cash, watches or phones. This new aspect of the payment world we live in means that when it comes to sorting out the bill you need a degree in higher mathematics. Joking apart, for busy venues, larger tables of customers create a conundrum at the end of their meal when they work out who pays what and how. This can lead to unnecessary delays for popular venues that need to turn their tables around fast.

My recent survey showed that 48% of diners want to wait no more than 5-10 minutes to settle their bill. Getting the bill paid within a reasonable time is an important aspect of the overall enjoyment of the experience.

The good news is that "going Dutch" needn't be a headache

The solution is a card machine that offers a "bill splitting" function. This enables the customer to choose to pay in full or with an equal or custom split between a number of diners. Select the option you want and the card machine does the rest, working out the balance for the next person.

One popular restaurant that's taken full advantage of this feature in readiness for the Summer is Nostalgic Kitchen in Horbury, West Yorkshire. It's a popular restaurant renowned for its traditional dishes lovingly prepared by chef and owner, Michael Oldroyd. They serve succulent Sunday roasts with huge homemade Yorkshires, big bowls of veg and proper gravy; jam roly poly and custard and seasonal fruit pies.

"We weren't aware of bill splitting before our demo," said Rachel Sockett, the Bar Manager. "It was difficult when we had a big table of diners and everyone wanted to pay separately. We would have to do the maths in our head or using a calculator. Under pressure it was quite stressful."

They went live with their new, fast 4g/Wifi machines last month and Rachel went on to explain the difference they're making to their service and customer experience.

"Now that we have our new machines we use the different bill splitting options. We've had a number of big parties that we've used it for. Some customers wanted to pay a set amount each. Others split the bill between themselves. It works out great, as the customers can see exactly what they've got to pay."

"I would definitely recommend this feature, as it's a lot quicker and easier, especially when you have a large group of diners. I can see this will really come into its own at Christmas."

It's easy to get started with bill splitting for your hospitality venue. Speak to me today and I can get you set up next week. Give me a call on +44 (0) 7472 583002 or email me at [email protected].

This marketing resource has been created for The Card Machine Lady which is a separate legal entity to Dojo and any statement made or view expressed is not endorsed by Dojo?and does not necessarily reflect the views of Dojo. The Card Machine Lady acts as a self-employed?representative of Dojo.