Corporate hospitality has been massively impacted by COVID. With offices shut down during the first lockdown, and now people who can work from home being advised to keep doing so for now, what will on-site hospitality look like in the future?
Safety guidance from the UK government includes staggering break times, limiting access to breakout areas and introducing measures to ensure workers always maintain distance. Furthermore, the UK government is encouraging people to stay on-site where possible, rather than heading out to get their lunch – and is advising employers to consider providing packaged meals to their staff.
It’s clear corporate dining at work is going to be different as we emerge from the pandemic and more people head back to the office – and so it’s important that businesses that haven’t yet adapted their on-site facilities do so now, in order to build back the much-needed revenue from the hospitality operation.
There are several tech innovations that can help businesses cater to their staff safely and profitably in the new normal.
The mySYSTOPIA app is great example; it allows users to pre-order and pay for food and beverage items using their smartphone. They can arrange a specified collection time or even have it delivered direct to their desk – reducing time spent queuing and unnecessary contact with other people. For cold items such as sandwiches or salads, additional food pick-up points – that allow some traffic to be diverted away from the canteen – is also an option. Given payment is also taken via the app these pick-up points don’t need EPOS or pay points installed.
Loyalty points can also be earned via the app, helping to encourage repeat purchase and further increase revenue.
Contactless vending is another option which sees an integrated contactless payment method installed on new or existing vending machines that removes the need to handle and process cash. Consumers benefit from a hassle-free, tap-and-go experience and businesses benefit from 24/7 revenue from refreshments without having to increase staffing costs.
Whilst buffets and shared platters of food are likely to remain a thing of the past for now, hospitality for meetings can still be done – just a little differently. Our concierge service allows refreshments to be ordered online and delivered direct to the meeting room – reducing movement of people as well as food waste. Each attendee can select their own pre-packaged food and drink.
On-site canteens are going to have reduced capacity, so a range of solutions which allow flexibility of when and where people eat is going to be essential for corporate offices to serve people safely and grow revenue from hospitality in the coming months. Our range of tech innovations can help with this.
To hear more about how we can help you transform your business operation contact us on info@systopia.co.uk