If you aren’t using contactless payments in your restaurant yet, or at least have plans to get one, then you need to be flogged with a thousand wet noodles. Sorry, just preachin’ the truth. Because in this day and age of pay at the table technology, you are doing yourself a great disservice if you remain stuck in old school practices. Old school practices lead to an older clientele until one day you look around and realize you own an IHOP. Or at least it appears that way when you walk in.
Don’t get me wrong. I love old people. I’m becoming one as we speak, but the money is in the younger generation’s pockets. So as we move toward easier and easier ways to pay, including pay at the table touchless payment solutions, if you don’t keep up with technology, you will find yourself dying off quickly and decisively like the dodo bird.
Now, maybe I have this all wrong. Maybe I don’t need to talk you into a contactless payment option. Maybe you’ve already been wanting to get one, but perhaps you are bound to your credit card processors and/or POS system. Maybe you don’t want to change everything around because it’s just one big hassle, as well as expensive. But don’t worry, you don’t have to worry about any of that. Stick with me here…
Today is the day we change all that. Today I’m going to introduce to you the perfect contactless payment solution for your restaurant. And here’s what we’ll cover:
- How it works
- What’s Good
- What’s Not So Good
- The Features and Benefits
- Integrations
- Pricing
But first…
FULL DISCLOSURE: In the spirit of full transparency, I would like you, the reader, to know that I am an affiliate for the contactless payment system I am recommending in this article (Paerpay). If you do click on any of the links to get a demo with them you will get $500 off the set-up fee if/when you sign-up. And if you do sign up, I make a small commission. I do thank you very much, but as always, I never recommend anything that I do not love and use myself. That damages my reputation and goes against everything I stand for and would make my reviews completely worthless. All of the reviews are my 100% honest opinion. Just need to make that clear. With that said, I digress…
What Exactly is “Pay at the Table Touchless Payment”?
I’m not going to insult your intelligence too much here. I assume if you’ve found this article it’s because you are searching for a good contactless payment system for your restaurant. But there are always greenhorns out there who are just starting out, so this is for them.
A “pay at the table” system or “contactless payment” system allows your guests to scan a QR code right on their table, which brings up their bill on their phone so they can pay the bill without waiting for a server to go through the painful process of 1) dropping the bill off, 2) coming back at some point to collect your credit card, 3) walking to the POS system to enter the payment, and then 4) dropping the check off to you again.
I won’t go into full detail here, but a study was done to determine how guests view their dining experience, and their #1 frustration was waiting for the bill. A contactless payment solution eliminates that problem in your business.
Which Contactless Payment System Should I Use?
You should always choose any product, service or system that best fits your needs and the needs of your business. With that said, if you don’t feel like doing the research yourself, you’re in luck because I have done the research for you. When talking about solely a pay at the table system, my favorite (as I have already mentioned) is Paerpay. This is a frictionless system that makes it so easy for your guests to pay and leave when they’re ready, and it is extremely easy to implement into your current every day flow.
What Makes Paerpay so Great?
Well, we all know that being contactless is good after what went down in 2020 with COVID, but what else is good about Paerpay?
- No app, no download and no hardware needed
- Perfect for large venues all the way to fast food drive-thrus
- Integrates with the best legacy POS systems
- 100% secure payments
- Guests are happier
- Extremely fast set-up
- Lots of additional integrations
These are all great bullet points, but the most important factor that makes Paerpay so great, and really the only one you should care about, is that it raises the guest satisfaction 10-fold.
How Does Paerpay Work?
With Paerpay your customers simply scan a QR code (which Paerpay sets up for you) right on the table, or in the drive-thru window if you’re fast food, wherever you think your guests will see it. Each table has its own unique QR code so the POS system knows which bill is being closed out. In other words, Paerpay and the POS system “talk” to each other.
Once the QR code is scanned, the bill pops up right on your guests’ phones and they are able to immediately pay their bill with a credit card or Apple Pay or Google Pay and they’re done. In addition, they can easily split the check with others at the table, they can leave a tip, and then they simply pay and they’re out.
Furthermore, the bill can also be texted right to your guests’ phone, and they just click the link and pay that way.
What this means is that your guests can experience the same speed and efficiency of dining and dashing, without the going-to-hell part of it. And as mentioned, their credit card information is completely safe, and yet it is tokenized, which means they only need to enter their information one time (or they can also just get the payment information from their iPhone or Android wallet). Then whenever they go to a restaurant using Paerpay, they don’t have to enter their credit card information again.
The Feedback Feature
After the payment has been processed, the user is immediately taken to a feedback screen so they can rate the restaurant, as well as the payment system. This is optional, but they can also leave comments, which is provides mountains of value because it helps you, as the owner, improve your business.
In addition, you can link the restaurant rating and review to Google reviews and Yelp reviews if you wish, which is pretty frickin’ awesome, assuming you get good ratings. If you weren’t aware, Google reviews move your business up in the search rankings, so this is a feature that can actually help your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) rankings on the Internet.
What Paerpay is Not
To avoid any confusion, let’s talk about what Paerpay is not. Paerpay is NOT an order and pay system like you might have seen out there. The order and pay systems allow the guests to scan the QR code, which brings up the restaurant’s digital menu on their phones and they can then order their own food and drinks without the need of a server. So if you were looking for a system like that, Paerpay is not the answer for you.
Personally, I love the service model of the order and pay system. I think it’s amazing, but there is a great debate out there as to whether having guests order for themselves at the table through their mobile devices is a good service model or not. Some diners are hell-bent about not dining at restaurants with an order and pay system. In fact, they are angry about it. They are seriously pissed that it was ever invented and they will not dine at places that have it. They just want the traditional full-service with someone taking their order, so many restaurant owners are a bit hesitant to bring in a full mobile ordering system like that right now. But they do love the idea of just a contactless payment system. And I get that. That is a total matter of preference.
Enter Paerpay, which is one of the few companies in existence that eliminates the complexity of the ordering part and the technology involved there and changing their entire model. They simply provide the complete contactless payment part. Now, if you ARE looking for the best order and payment system through the QR code, I highly suggest you check out GoTab here, as that in my opinion is by far the best order and pay at the table system on the market and it REMARKABLY affordable. And it includes a full POS system. You can also check out my review on GoTab here. I’m not sure what you’re looking for specifically—or maybe you don’t even know yet—so I’m providing you more than one option here.
Paerpay is Middleware
Now, if you like the idea of simplicity and just having a “pay at the table” system, then Paerpay is perfect because it is what is known as a middleware platform. If you don’t know what middleware is, middleware acts as a bridge bring between one platform (like Paerpay) and the existing systems, like your payment processors and POS system. What that means is there is no hardware. It simply connects to your POS system and payment processors and there is very minimal training to get this going. In fact, all you need to do to train your servers is tell them to tell the guests that they can scan the QR code on the table at any time when they’re ready to pay. That’s it.
In addition, you don’t have to switch POS systems to implement it right away. It’s a plug and play option that you can have up and running in no time, so in that sense, I love the simplicity. Anything that you can implement to: 1) systemize your business to make your life easier, 2) raise guest satisfaction, and 3) make you more money without being one giant headache, is a home run in my book. This is why the ORDER and pay systems are not for everyone because there is so much complexity involved. Paerpay makes everything simple. Or as Paerpay describes it: it is frictionless, which I think is an appropriate description here.
What Systems Does Paerpay Integrate With?
Now, before we go any further, allow me to provide you a list of integrations, including which POS systems that Paerpay integrates with, because if your POS system is not on this list, then you know that Paerpay is not for you. If that’s the case, then again, you might want to go check out GoTab because it can work alongside whatever POS system you have.
With that said, Paerpay is a perfect fit for legacy systems as that go-between we talked about so you can have a seamless scan and pay system for your guests. Here is the list of POS systems that Paerpay integrates with:
Paerpay POS Integrations
- Micros
- Aloha
- PosiTouch
- Clover
- Par/Brink
- Xpient
If you currently have any of those systems I would highly suggest setting up a demo with Paerpay so they can show you exactly what they can do for you and how easy it is. And for loyalty it is Punchh and Paytronix, but I believe they have more on the way.
Paerpay Payment Processor Integrations
- Stripe
- Elavon
- Worldpay
Paerpay Loyalty Integrations
- Punchh
- Paytronix
How Much Does Paerpay Cost?
I usually like to go over pricing earlier in the article because this seems to be what people care most about, but all you should really care about is if it’s going to raise your ROI (return on investment), and in this case it’s a no brainer.
If you go to their website you’ll notice that there is no pricing listed there. This normally annoys me, but in this case it’s because it really can vary based on what type of establishment you are. Are you fast food or full service? How much volume are you doing? Do you want to do a per transaction fee, which goes to the guest and you don’t have to pay any of that, or does a monthly subscription make more sense? Or a combination of the two? Paerpay can work with you in a number of ways to work all that out.
I know that doesn’t help much, but I will say that it is well-worth your time to look into it because they can structure the pricing just for you, and all that matters is that it is extremely affordable. The value you are getting from it is going to change everything. Your guests will love it, your servers will actually make more tips because tip-averages are higher, which means they will love it. You will turn more tables which is good for both you and the servers. And speaking of the servers, we all know that servers HATE splitting checks, but now they don’t have to do it anymore because the guests can do it right from their phones. Brilliant!
So for me, as far as contactless payment systems go, Paerpay is a fantastic option. If you have one of the POS systems I showed you, then I think looking into Paerpay is a slam dunk. You can click the button below if you’re ready. Again, using that link means that they will set-up your account for free for you which saves you $500 – $1,000, so why not save the money.
I hope this was helpful for you in finding the perfect contactless payment option for your restaurant, brewery, bar, food truck, whatever. I also hope you make a million dollars this week. Thanks for hanging out with me today. Until next time…
Cheers,
Dave The RB