Union estimates that bars and restaurants can unlock billions of dollars of untapped revenue by supporting consumers’ demand for digital payments
Source: Union
September 19, 2023
Union, a data-driven hospitality engagement platform, has released a point-of-sale solution that allows servers and bartenders to use iPhones to place guests orders and process payments tableside, completely eliminating the need to exchange physical credit cards as well as use card readers and handhelds.
According to Union’s on-premise data from more than a thousand high-volume venues nationwide, 30 percent of credit card readers experience issues from time to time when processing payments, leading to slower table turnover times and frustrated guests. Union’s POS for iPhone product solves this issue and takes the hospitality experience to a new level, eliminating a physical card reader altogether. The solution enables guests to tap-to-pay, scan-to-pay or pay using Union’s guest-led open + pay app experience, which can be completed on any personal device.
“Taking physical credit cards is costing bars and restaurants billions of dollars per year,” said Alex Broeker, Union’s CEO and co-founder. “The real cost of taking physical cards is the lost revenues that occurs during the process of taking physical credit cards. Consider this, an average bartender can make two drinks per minute. The average time it takes to take a physical card from a customer, start a tab, hand the card back, print a receipt and enter the tip is a minute. Across our portfolio, two drinks per minute add up to nearly $20. If every venue served another two drinks per minute, our venues would have earned another $540 million last year.”
With no hardware to be configured or shipped, Union’s POS on iPhone can be easily activated in a matter of hours with a basic menu and operation setup. When coupled with Union’s guest led ordering platform–where customers can view menus, order and pay through their mobile devices–the new POS gives servers access to unique insights tableside that enhance the guest experience even further. In addition to the iPhone devices for staff, venues will need a Wifi network and printer or kitchen display system. The solution can run in tandem with other POS solutions or alongside Union’s classic POS. Venues pay a nominal monthly fee for the service.
“Using Union has sped up the delivery of our orders by at least 70 percent,” said Kevin Mackin, manager at Smithfield Hall in New York City, which recently implemented Union’s new product.
George Fogg from Darkhorse Tavern in Houston, Texas was also an early adopter of Union’s new POS solution and sees the value in adopting new technology. “What you need in a busy and fast paced bar is things being done quickly and efficiently and this product helps with that,” notes Fogg.
More and more consumers are choosing to pay at bars and restaurants with apps instead of physical cards, so Union’s POS for iPhone product was developed to support this shift in behavior. For example, in a recent third party survey, more than one thousand restaurant and bar goers were asked if they prefer to pay with apps such as Google Pay or Apple Pay versus physical credit cards, nearly 40 percent of respondents indicated that they prefer to pay with apps.
“This technology is helping venues smoothly transition to accepting digital payments and is helping to take the guest experience to new heights,” said Layne Cox, CMO of Union. “Venues can finally get rid of clunky handhelds and replace them with small, lightweight, intuitive devices that fit in their pockets. With a seamless tie into our guest led ordering and payment solution, this new product enables everyone to win – guests can order and pay their tabs whenever they are ready, cutting out the unproductive wait that only hurts the experience and operation.”