Case Study: Uncle Julio’s Streamlines Checkout and Guest Experience With OneDine
When Uncle Julio’s, the popular Tex-Mex restaurant chain, was ready to implement a new pay-at-table solution, they found both efficiency and access to real-time data and customer feedback with OneDine, a SaaS platform providing on-demand guest commerce for the restaurant and hospitality industry,
Uncle Julio’s has been operating for more than 30 years, boasting 44 restaurants across 11 states, which includes 38 Uncle Julio's locations and 6 La Hacienda locations. With its emphasis on guest experience — including in-store decor and atmosphere inspired by Mexican architecture and art — and fresh Tex-Mex flavors, Uncle Julio’s required a pay-at-table solution that could be integrated seamlessly into its checkout process.
The Challenge: Upgrade Guest-Facing Technology While Retaining the Brand Experience
“We were looking to implement a new pay-at-table solution that would speed up service while preserving the unique experiences that define our brand,” says R.J. Thomas, Uncle Julio’s President & Chief Operating Officer. “Experience is incredibly important. When you ask people to name their favorite restaurant, the quality of the food is just one factor — they are more likely to come back for the location and the people.”
The Solution: Implementing OneDine Checkout
Uncle Julio’s found the ideal partner with OneDine Checkout, which digitizes and streamlines the guest checkout process using handheld tablets and QR codes, which interface seamlessly with the restaurant’s existing technology stack.
OneDine was founded to facilitate restaurant commerce, bringing together the multiple channels including on-premise and off-premise into a single platform, specializing in the checkout flow, notes OneDine Founder & CEO Rom Krupp, a 26-year veteran of the restaurant industry.
“OneDine helps restaurants become more agile with labor, menus, supply chain, and process,” says Krupp. “If dine-in restaurants can give customers control over their transactions, staff can focus more on personal service and turning tables faster.”
Krupp echoes Thomas’s concern about the importance of guest experience: Little efficiencies in the checkout process can yield significant improvements in guest experience and enhanced revenue. Similarly, little setbacks can have a big impact as well. “Once the meal is over, the guest is eager to leave,” says Krupp. “Their dining experience may have been an 8 out of 10, but if their checkout experience is poor, the overall experience may become a 7.”
The Results: Enhanced Guest Experience and Real-Time Feedback
Uncle Julio’s collaboration has yielded immediate results:
Streamlined pay-at-table: OneDine Checkout deploys handheld devices (and a QR code option) for a pay-at-table process that closely mimics the traditional “paper workflow” payment process. By putting the process in the customer’s hands, OneDine Checkout can increase a restaurant's throughput and maximize loyalty/CRM signups. Guests can split checks, complete gift and loyalty redemptions, and pay securely via credit card using EMV or NFC.
Real-time guest engagement: “OneDine provided not only a pay-at-table device, but just as importantly a survey tool in real time,” says Thomas. “The survey is built into the checkout process — to get real data to make sure servers and managers are engaging with the guest.” Krupp notes that because the survey tool is embedded in the payment process, the integrity of the data is ensured, with no opportunity for servers or managers to input survey data. “The survey can capture negative guest sentiment in real time, allowing store managers to engage and ensure guest recovery in real time,” says Krupp.
Thomas says, “Uncle Julio’s is just a few months into the implementation of OneDine Checkout. At this early stage we’re less interested in faster table turns. We’re focusing on ranking our managers and servers based on survey data and how they are engaging with guests, and how this new process is increasing guest frequency and loyalty.”
Learn more at https://onedine.com/