Digitization of Restaurants, the Future of PoS

Olivier: 0:00

Hi, and welcome to Planet Odoo. Your check-in for all things about tech, innovation, business and, of course, Odoo. Ready for today's episode? It's going to be tasty. Picture this. It's winter. A very cold day, and I booked a table at my favorite restaurant in Brussels for lunch. I like it here because although it's always filled with people, the warm and cozy atmosphere just makes it feel like home. I can see our two guests are already there. Let's go meet them.

Fabien: 0:32

Hello, Faben. Hello.

Olivier: 0:33

You're the CEO of Odoo. We all more or less know you, right?

Fabien: 0:36

Yeah, I'm the founder, but I like to consider myself more like a product owner. I spend most of my time trying to improve the product, working with the user, improving our different applications. And that's probably why I'm here today.

Olivier: 0:48

Yeah, exactly. And next to you is an authentic product owner. Hello, David.

David: 0:53

Hello, Olivier. I am working a lot with. With Fabian. I'm responsible for the point of sale solution that we provide already for retail, for cashier and for waiters in restaurants. Or it does touch screen where we can actually take the order of your customer.

Olivier: 1:09

Okay, So before we start talking, maybe. Have you already ordered something to drink?

Fabien: 1:14

No, we were waiting for you.

Olivier: 1:16

Okay. But let's find some waiter. I didn't see anyone.

Fabien: 1:19

Did you raise your hand or you try? Now we are kidding, but, you know, it's really something that's killing me. I like to go to the restaurant. I often go to the restaurant with my kids and my wife, and they are extremely in a hurry. So when you enter and you have to wait for the waiter to bring you the menu and the kids are like 'I want my coke. I want my coke' you have to wait. And he's coming. He's coming. And you get the menu. Oh, and then you have a look at the menu. You know what you want to drink. The waiter have to come back again 'Hey, guys, What do you want to order?' And then we order the drinks for us and the coke for the kids. And then he goes back to the to the bar. You have to give the ticket to the bar. Come back to bring us the food or the drinks. You know, it's three times he has to come to order. And all the time we have to wait. And it's not a good experience for us as a client and for them neither. I mean, just for selling €8 of three drinks he has to do back and forth.

Olivier: 2:21

And the more back and forth they have to do, the more the rush is pressing on them.

Fabien: 2:26

Yes. And it improved a little bit. So since the pandemic? Now, some restaurants put a QR code on the table so you don't have to wait for the waiter to come to to get the menu. You can with your mobile phone, scan the QR code, read the menu. But it's usually an ugly PDF where you have to zoom with your fingers. It's not very efficient, but it's a start.

Olivier: 2:46

It's just improving the first step of bringing the menu. Yes. And that's interesting because actually I wanted to discuss with you about the future of Odoo and about the roadmap for version 17 and especially what we had planned for restaurants, because so David, could you explain how we plan to improve what Fabien just explained and what's what's coming?

David: 3:05

Yeah, actually, we want to go a step further from that. So we found that it was really interesting to have this QR code to get the menu. So it's already something improved. But we thought about like why not going further than that? Like instead of getting a PDF, then you get the actual menu that is responsive and even interactive so you can select the product you want to order, you can place your order. So it's sent. You actually don't have to wait for the waiter.

Olivier: 3:34

So when you if I get you well, you, when you scan the QR code you have some kind of of interface, just like on a web shop, where you can buy the different things that are available in the restaurant, right?

Fabien: 3:44

Yes. My kids will love it.

Olivier: 3:47

I think like will love it more.

Fabien: 3:51

But yeah, that's fast. So you just scan, order your three cokes, and the waiter doesn't have to come. I like it.

Olivier: 3:56

Okay. And so then, what happens? So we place the order like that, we hit the validate button or whatever it's called. What's happening? Where does the information goes? What's the flow? What's the magic, actually?

David: 4:05

Well, actually, why not send it directly to the kitchen or to the bar? So still, without waiting to have back and forth from someone. So I think you can picture, in the kitchen having those papers,...

Olivier: 4:18

Like you often see that in the on TV, in cooking shows. That's basically my only experience with witchen. You have those bars with all the paper peels of the different tables that are just waiting and then do them like in sequence and they have to be very organized about that. So that's what we replaced with.

David: 4:34

Yeah, indeed. Actually we want to do that, but on the touch screen. So actually you get all those different tickets. You actually can tell your staff to, to prepare the dish. You can just click on what is completed. Then the waiter, we get the status on the preparation of this order at the same time. Why not having a bit of summary about all those ticket? Because if you get let's say 6 tickets and over all you get three salmons. Then maybe you want to know that there are two salmon on the go, and you need to prepare two salmon and not I prepare a salmon then and prepare another dish. Then I come back to the salmon..

Olivier: 5:10

I guess it's something they already have to do. But all all by hand and all by themselves. But knowing and reading, okay I have three salmon and knowing that they will come in, keeping them in mind so we can automate that a little more.

Fabien: 5:24

And it's very easy. I mean, it's just a tablet. So you put the tablet, it's connected to the server and no complex IT software, just put the tablet and it runs and you get the summary of all the orders and are ready to go.

Olivier: 5:37

Okay cool. And so they can play around with it, filter them, group them, whatever.

Fabien: 5:41

And the same tablet can be used for the server or the waiter. So you get a status of all the orders that are being prepared. And if an angry customer like me like, 'Hey, where is my order? It's been 10 minutes. I'm waiting.' You can check on the tablet 'Oh, don't worry, it's being cooked. The salmon is already cooked, so the rest will come in a few minutes.'

Olivier: 6:02

Okay, so it's saving one more time for the waiter to go to the kitchen 'So is it ready?' Disturbing all the cooks to get an answer and then coming back to the back to the customer. So essentially, it will take a few seconds to something that will have taken, I don't know, like 2 minutes, but multiplied by the number of customers. I guess there is a big gain in that, right?

David: 6:20

Yeah, actually, you imagine the whole floor. So we are talking about like here we are still waiting for the waiter.

Olivier: 6:28

I still haven't seen any. I don't know where they are.

David: 6:31

Then imagine here you have the QR code, you scan, you send your order. It's already in the kitchen. The kitchen is already preparing it. So it's really a lot of time that can be saved.

Olivier: 6:40

Okay. Okay. And so once it's ready in the kitchen, I assume they have some button to press somewhere to say it's ready and then the waiter is notified.

Fabien: 6:48

Or they can use the bell like usual.

Olivier: 6:50

So we keep the balance. Yeah, I think it's useful. I mean, the software doesn't have to replace everything. It's like, you know, what we explained about the QR code in ordering? It's on top of what they do today. You can also ask the server so that you ask the order to him and they will record on his mobile phone the order. So everything we provide is on top of what they do today. I think the bell is cool, we keep it, but if they want they can also touch on the on the tablet. So Odoo doesn't plan to replace the traditional way of working just to improve it and keep it for the people.

Fabien: 7:23

We just provide better tools for everyone to perform their job better and do more in less time and less walking.

Olivier: 7:31

So for people who wannts to read the human touch and interact with the waiter, no problem. They can still do that.

David: 7:36

Actually to support really the choice of the customer. So if they want to.

Olivier: 7:45

So it's very comfortable for everyone. It's good. So and when we reach the end of the meal, so everyone has finished his dish and they want to pay. How is it working then?

David: 7:54

Yeah. So actually they can pay just by still using the phone. So you scan the QR code and then you have the possibility to review order and pay directly online.

Fabien: 8:03

That's good. It's much faster. No need to 'Hey, I want to pay. I'm here. I'm here.' You can also ask the waiter if you want. You can also ask to pay if you want to discuss with him or you pay directly for the hurried guys like me, it's much better.

Olivier: 8:17

Okay. And then the waiter, when he sees someone is leaving, has just to check on this tablet. Okay? If it's unsure. Okay. This one has paid.

Fabien: 8:24

Done. And he got a notification as soon as it's done.

Olivier: 8:25

It's okay.

David: 8:26

No, actually, you can have also another configuration where you asked for the customer to pay at the end of each order, so you don't have to really follow all the tables like 'ah, I see these guys are leaving this table. I need to check if they paid.' Because actually with the other approach, if you pay to send the order, actually you don't get anything until you pay so.

Olivier: 8:49

So it's a configuration,it is something you choose how you want it to work and it's just one box to tick somewhere in the settings.

Fabien: 8:56

It's more for bars, you know. Restaurants you use to order other things at the end. But in some bars you order and you pay right away. So, and the order is only confirmed if you pay. So for the bars, we also have this mode where you order pay.

Olivier: 9:07

Okay. This can also be used, I guess, then for, you know, those kiosk things, right. The devices you have is fast food restaurants in the entrance and to go there and there's a touchscreen in your order everything you click validate, you pay and then you wait for your burger or whatever you took. So this could be used for this as well.

David: 9:25

Yeah, definitely.

Fabien: 9:25

It's a different interface. I mean, it's not the same. It's like McDonald's. I mean, because the payment system is integrated with the tablet and so on, but we support that. So we support all the modes and you can even mix them. You can order with the waiter, self order on the table or go on the ordering kiosk and order there.

Olivier: 9:44

You could have everything, and so ywe have a specialized things for customers to make it even more comfortable than just going on the phone. Okay. So I guess it makes things very comfortable for the customer, right. Are there are other things we planned?

David: 9:58

Yeah, actually in the customer experience, there will be a way to book a table table so that you can do it from your website. So you will just give how many guests, if it's for lunch or dinner, if you prefer to eat on the terrace or inside.

Olivier: 10:13

Okay, So you can pick the location of the table you want as well. Is this configurable or you have like just the choice of outside or inside, you can?

David: 10:22

That will be completely flexible for the restaurant.

Fabien: 10:25

You can even mix like let's say you have ten tables of two people. If someone orders a table for four, the system will be able to book two table of two that are next to each other, to group them so that you have a table of four.

Olivier: 10:37

So it's already optimizing things like that.

Fabien: 10:39

Indeed, it's an improvement of the appointment of Odoo, where you can book a meeting with a doctor or with a salesperson. It's an improvement of that where we improve the appointment app to work with resources tables or could be tennis courts or whatever. And it has all the features that a restaurant need.

David: 10:55

As soon as it's done, then you get the information from the point of sale, from the management of your floor plan. So do you see which table are reserved or not. And also the waiter, because still you can call the restaurant, the waiter would be also able to book a table manually.

Fabien: 11:12

From its interface.

Olivier: 11:14

So yeah, everything is centralized in one place and I assume the waiter also has access to that while working in the room itself. And so he can check what's going on and what will come in the bookings that are done for the rest of the evening. I don't know.

Fabien: 11:27

That way the experience is complete. You order on the website, you come to the restaurant, you can order on the kiosk or book order on the table by scanning the QR code, you eat well and then you can pay from your mobile or pay with the waiter. The kitchen is automated. Everything is integrated in one single interface, which is better for the client, with a great experience for the client, but also a very useful tool for the waiter.

Olivier: 11:53

Okay. And so all those features we just discussed, we are making them for restaurants. Can they be used in other cases as well?

David: 11:59

That's what I wanted to say. Just imagine this all self service. You just add a support for barcode scanner and then you have the self service station in the retail where actually the customer can scan all the product that he just put in his cart and then pay at the end of the floor and leave.

Olivier: 12:17

So instead of inputting everything at the beginning after scanning the menu link, they scan the QR code of the different products and at the end there is the checkout.

David: 12:26

And we also have the self preparation, not the service but the preparation display. So you can order,for instance, a furniture business, you don't buy a table or desk and come to the cashier. This is difficult, it's too big. And so what you can do is you order that on the point of sale and then the order goes to the preparation display and you go in the back of the shop in the railroads where people do the kitting in the assembly, maybe for you, and that will be based also on the same system than the kitchen display. But it's going to be the preparation order display where they see all the tickets they should prepare and so that you come with your truck and then just put the product you purchased in your truck.

Olivier: 13:13

And this way it can be ready.

Fabien: 13:14

It's easier for ticketing. You can also use it for aftersales services. Or if you repair product, they will have a screens with the follow up of everything they should prepare. Just this is the same mechanism of the stage are different way. When you are in the kitchen you have to cook and then serve. When you are in the retail or furniture business, it's going to be a do the kitting and then deliver.

Olivier: 13:35

Okay, very interesting. I don't know, is there any more thing to add to what we already said?.

Fabien: 13:40

I think it's already a lot.

David: 13:42

And actually I can say it was a lot of expand, a lot summarized and and still we are not served.

Olivier: 13:53

Time flies, actually. But it would be nice that we could catch a waiter soon. So I suggest we go. We go search for one and we stop the episode here. So thank you, Fabien.

Fabien: 14:04

Thank you for inviting us and paying the bill.

Olivier: 14:07

Well, let's see about that. I probably should make an expense. Thank you, David.

David: 14:12

Thank you for having us.

Olivier: 14:13

It was very interesting. Well, my pleasure. And thank you to all the people listening to us and see you in the next episode of Planet Odoo. And that's a wrap for today. Thank you for joining us. If you liked it and would like to know more about Otto's vision, go check out the first episode we did with Fabien Pinckaers. The link is in the description. Also, if you like this podcast, make sure to support us by hitting the subscribe button, leaving a review, or even sharing it. See you next time. Cheers.