Hybrid Restaurant-Retail-Entertainment Venues Lack Unified POS Experience

Restaurant technology has become dramatically more sophisticated in the past few years, but certain kinds of venues have been largely left behind in the industry’s digital shift. For instance, multi-activity locations that run a bar and/or restaurant in addition to these activities have a more difficult time finding tech providers that will provide software that works across the various parts of the business.

Take The Burrow, a Minnesota venue with three locations that, in addition to its bar and its food offerings, also runs a range of entertainment options including axe throwing, go-karts, arcade games, mini golf and more. Karissa Wright, general manager of The Burrow’s Oakdale, Minnesota, location, explained in an interview with PYMNTS how the business struggled to land on a tech provider that would work across these different offerings.

“[For a while], we were kind of the guinea pigs for a new startup company, and it was just rough,” Wright said. “A lot of people either do POS [point-of-sale] for restaurants really well, or they do activities really well, and it was a struggle to find someone that did both of them combined really well. The one that we had was good for activities, but then the POS side of it, as far as the restaurant goes and the bar side of it, was really a struggle.”

She noted that there were “so many different issues” with the system, including an inability to run credit cards for larger orders or to split checks. In busy periods, such as last holiday season, the venue found it a “huge struggle” to keep everything running smoothly. This year, The Burrow has switched to tech provided by SpotOn, which has helped “keep things more organized.”

With many bars and restaurants looking to stand out by providing unique experiences in addition to their food and beverage offerings, POS providers are challenged to similarly rise to the challenge of powering payments not only for their dine-in business but also for a range of different kinds of activities. Plus, restaurants also expect to be able to incorporate different kinds of occasions, such as private parties, catering orders and more, demanding greater versatility and flexibility from tech providers.

These kinds of tech solutions are especially key right now, with labor challenges threatening restaurants’ ability to maintain the quality of the customer experience. Research from the 2022 edition of PYMNTS’ Restaurant Readiness Index, created in collaboration with Paytronix, found that 32% of restaurants reported that their level of service has decreased as a result of staffing issues.

Additionally, the study, which drew from a survey of more than 500 managers of quick-service restaurants (QSRs) and full-service restaurants (FSRs) across the country, found that nearly half had faced difficulty hiring and retaining staff. Consequently, when it comes to tech, as important as the POS system are restaurants’ labor management tools, enabling smarter management of the venue’s workflow.

“The most important [tech solutions] for us are really good scheduling apps,” Wright said. “An app that allows us to track our labor and scheduling, those types of things … I’m really looking forward to going into this [holiday] season with a strong system that … will really be able to help our guests efficiently.”