Automated or self-pour technology is making an impact on the hospitality, restaurant and membership industry. This ingenious technology allows customers to pour beer, wine, mixed drinks, or other options.
An Introduction to Automated Beer Taps
Self-serve beer taps are a simple enough idea. They let customers quickly pour their beverage of choice without waitstaff or bartenders. A dispenser for beverages is nothing new. Customers in fast food restaurants and convenience stores are used to pouring their sodas and paying at the register. What sets automated taps apart is that a customer can now get their driver ‘s scanned, approved and pay per amount poured. Customers need an RFID card, wristband or an app to access the system. They can be integrated with POS (point of sale) technology unifying food services, self-pour, amenities and more into a single transaction, so your guest only has to pay one check upon check out..
Businesses That Use Self-Service Beer Taps
Automated taps can be used by many hospitality, restaurant and members club businesses, including
- Bars
- Breweries
- Restaurants
- Casinos
- Hotels
- Cruise ships
- Sports clubs
- Luxury Living
Advantages of Automated Beer Taps
Why should restaurants and other hospitality businesses consider automated beer taps? There are many benefits:
Flexible
Bars, restaurants, and other places that serve alcohol come in many sizes and styles. Self-pour stations can work for establishments of all sizes. Choose between models that are either built in, tap walls, or do not need construction, kiosk, and they can offer various numbers of taps based on your needs. Self-serve taps give you the flexibility to provide various alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. You can use them for wine, cocktails, and the likes of soda, iced tea, and kombucha.
Optimize Staffing
You may need to cut back on staff in an industry with tight profit margins, or might want to re-assign your staff to create a great guest experience. One of the significant financial advantages of self-serve taps is that they reduce the need for bar staff. As customers serve themselves, it frees your staff to concentrate on increasing customer experience in other areas like food service or creating specialized drinks only.
Reduce The Wait
No more waiting in line for your customers to get served during busy times. With a self-serve station, customers can serve themselves at any time they would like, without the wait. This benefits both customers and the establishment. Customers get their drinks instantly and the business can serve more guests in a shorter period of time.
Allows For Continuous Sampling
Many people want to sample beverages in the age of foodies and craft beers. With a self-pour bar, customers can sample as many beers as they would like, in any quantity they would like.
One of the most ingenious features of an advanced beer tap system is that customers decide how much beer they want. Guests can sample any amount of craft beers before deciding which they prefer. This is another win-win: customers can sample to their hearts’ content while the business can view which beers are sampled the most.
Reduces Waste
Not every drop of beer leaves the dispenser and makes it into a glass. Waste is part of serving beer at a bar and it now can be significantly reduced.. With self-pour, the customer pays for every ounce of beer as there are no wrong orders, free samples, or giveaways.
Easier to Track Inventory
The self-pour software helps you keep close track of your inventory. A glance at the dashboard tells you exactly how much beer is in each keg. You don’t have to worry about suddenly running out of a popular brand.
Lets You Collect Data
An automated system tracks your pour data. You can easily see what brands and drinks are moving the fastest. You can track demographics and trends, such as what drinks are popular with customers of different ages and among men or women and identify the busiest days, hours, and seasons.
Get Creative With Self-Pour Technology
Smart technology opens up the door for many creative possibilities. Beyond the convenience of self-serve, you can offer other fun and profitable features. You can, for example, give your guests options such as purchasing monthly plans, or create automated happy hours with discounts on certain days and times.
Pros and Cons
Here are the major pros and cons of automated beer taps.
Pros
- Fast service and virtually no wait times.
- Reduces waste.
- Optimizes staffing.
- Allows customers to sample and drink the amount they would like..
Cons
- An automated beer tap system might require construction
- You need space in your establishment
- It will require some sort of training for your employees.
Automated Beer Taps and the Future
For restaurants, bars, and other hospitality businesses automated technology can be very beneficial as it’s an employee that’s always there, can serve drinks at any time of the day and never calls in sick. Automated beer taps are great as a complimentary service and for businesses who don’t want to have a bar.They can improve efficiency in many situations and most importantly they are creating a fun, interactive guest experience. Automated beer taps keep up with the times and will update and adapt their software and integrations continuously, so your technology will stay up to date.
