Digital commerce solutions company NCR Voyix has debuted a pay-at-table solution in collaboration with sunday.
Aloha Pay-At-Table lets diners scan a tabletop QR code, see their bill, split costs and leave a time while paying in under 10 seconds, according to a Monday (May 20) press release. This means guests spend less time waiting for a check, and increases efficiencies for staff and restaurant owners, per the release.
“In an industry known for its razor-thin margins, our Aloha Pay-At-Table by NCR Voyix technology enables restaurants to operate more efficiently,” Benny Tadele, executive vice president and president of restaurants at NCR Voyix, said in the release.
“By serving guests faster, encouraging higher spending and turning tables swiftly, it’s a game-changer for business-minded operators.”
The company says this also lets servers enjoy 10% higher tips thanks to automatic, precalculated tip suggestions, while doing away with back-and-forth trips by the server for payments, thus saving an average of 15 minutes per table.
In addition, the tool prompts diners to review the restaurant’s food, service, ambiance and value on Google after they pay.
The debut follows last week’s rollout of NCR Voyix’s Aloha Kiosk, launched in partnership with restaurant-focused software provider GRUBBRR. As PYMNTS reported, this offering is designed to help eateries deal with challenges such as increased wages and food costs.
And restaurants can use the assistance, as PYMNTS wrote recently.
“Even as Main Street businesses outperform the rest of the economy, there’s a whole different set of rules for restaurants,” that report said. “For example, PYMNTS Intelligence found that over the last 12 months, Main Street businesses have operated with the lowest risk of closing since early 2020.”
A separate report by Fiserv explored the matter in greater detail, showing that small business sales for April rose 5.6% year over year and 2.2% month over month. But restaurants were an exception, with the Fiserv report finding that small businesses that typically attract discretionary spending, such as restaurants, did not do as well in April as in recent months.
“The sector saw sales growth slow as consumer demand for lower-priced food options increased,” PYMNTS wrote.
Meanwhile, research by PYMNTS Intelligence shows that consumers have doubts about self-service restaurant technologies, with 34% saying they feel positive about viewing menus via a QR code, and 31% wanting to order from self-service kiosks.
“While some restaurant technologies, such as QR code menus, may rub most consumers the wrong way, it seems that diners are open to self-service when it allows them to have more fun,” PYMNTS wrote earlier this year.
That report used the example of Kura Sushi, a conveyor-belt-style sushi chain that launched in Japan and before opening several dozen locations in the U.S.
