Smart POS and Digital Checkout: Interview on the Canteen of the Future with GiroWeb

The communal catering business has been faced with many new challenges as a result of the strong market dynamics in recent years. Successful hospitality managers must meet the ever-changing demands of catering, safety, health and flexibility. At the same time, however, those responsible must not lose sight of the economic goals of their company restaurants, university eateries or school lunchrooms.

Against this background, there has already been a digitization push at the POS of many catering companies in recent years, resulting in a great demand for hardware, software, service and support. Thorsten Reineking, managing director at GiroWeb, full-service IT partner for ordering, payment and billing, provides insights into operational practice and current trends relating to POS systems in the canteen of the future.

• What are the current changes in community catering?

Thorsten Reineking: The entire catering sector has to reinvent itself virtually all the time. Issues such as health, hygiene, raw materials, energy, personnel and inflation have left their mark. In general, it can be stated that the trend towards home office, telecommuting and mobile working continues and remains challenging for all canteens. Most GiroWeb clients also see new challenges as opportunities, but short-term restrictions are always difficult. Small and young catering companies in particular often have limited scope for alternative concepts, short-term IT investments as well as acquisition and training of new employees.

• Is there a difference between caterers and self-managers?

Thorsten Reineking: Financially strong companies with in-house catering and large contract caterers tend to accelerate their already ongoing automation and digitization programs during crises. Hybrid usage concepts have also become established in business catering, with restaurants and vending as well as areas for meetings and co-working. For contract caterers, the scope for innovation always depends on compromise with their clients. Less employees in the office basically mean less lunch guests in the canteen. This is to be compensated for by productivity and additional revenues through GiroWeb solutions.

• What can you offer your clients to increase efficiency?

Thorsten Reineking: As an independent IT service provider, GiroWeb stands for innovative and comprehensive solutions covering all aspects of digital POS systems and efficient payment with cash and cashless solutions. Caterers and direct clients throughout Germany benefit from short distances and competent service for easy and secure processes. The GiroWeb team designs the best overall solution in accordance with the wishes of the client and implements it in a budget-friendly manner, focusing on a rapid increase in efficiency. With digitization and automation caterers gain time for their guests, gastronomy, service and thus customer experience as well as customer loyalty.


• Can clients generate additional revenues with GiroWeb?

Thorsten Reineking: Flexible interfaces of the software enable catering providers to generate additional business with little effort in terms of personnel. Depending on the catering concept, this can include self-service solutions with self-checkout and cashless payment, for example, or even including automatic food recognition and intelligent data analysis. Online ordering systems also offer clients potential savings on purchasing and production through better planning and use of resources. Innovative marketing tools such as digital signage with interactive menus for notebook, tablet and mobile app round off the GiroWeb offering.

• How are the market leaders positioning themselves for the future?

Thorsten Reineking: A good example for large contract caterers is the innovative Arapay project for our long-standing client Aramark, a leading global provider of food services. Together with our client and other technology partners, such as CashControl, GiroWeb has developed an integrative cloud POS system. The networking of online credit, smartphone app, digital signage and automatic food recognition via Dishtracker offers real added value. Guests at participating company restaurants can check their credit and payment transactions online at any time. If necessary, they can top up their Arapay account with card or cash via various channels online or at one of the multifunctional GiroWeb top-up stations in the Aramark restaurants. Arapay users can also use the qnips mobile app to order and pay, including employer subsidies. However, digitization and automation are not limited to electronic systems for ordering, payment and billing. In the future, Aramark will also use kitchen robots to support employees and supplement catering, especially for off-peak hours and shift work. Aramark guests will be able to order these meals via app, watch them being prepared in the glass-enclosed robot kitchen and take home the finished dish just a few minutes later.

• What are future success factors for competitive POS systems?

Thorsten Reineking: The POS is undergoing permanent change, shaped by digital innovations. In addition to stationary POS solutions, cloud-based POS systems and mobile applications for indoors and outdoors continue to evolve. Smart POS systems with modular expansion for multiple uses also remain important success factors. GiroWeb clients continue to have maximum flexibility as a trump card for economic success while complying with legal requirements regarding data protection, accounting and fiscalization, including printed or electronic receipts. In combination with customer-oriented catering and fast service, many guests can also be lured back to the canteens from self-catering in their home offices.

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GiroWeb Products and Services

• Management and transaction clearing to provide efficient administration for self-catering organizations and contractors

• Cash and cashless systems as well as peripheral modules to speed up payment and reduce queuing times at the POS

• Self-service terminals such as multifunctional loaders to issue and charge or top up RFID chip-cards or transponders

• Self-service terminals for efficient guest card management and pre-ordering of meals for in-house consumption or take-out

• Operation units: Card readers and controllers for quick payment at coffee, soda, snack and vending machines (VMC)

• RFID media: Chip-cards and transponders for easy, fast and secure service and identification of RFID chips and holders

• RFID full-service provision: Customized design, coding, integration and migration into existing environments

• POS, cloud, web and app: Mobile software for Google / Android (e.g. tablets) and Apple / iOS devices (e.g. iPads)

• Full-service offer: Consulting, project management, installation, training and support (on-site and remote)

• Back-office service: Additional individual services for operating environments (e.g. administrative tasks)

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Top 10 Reasons for GiroWeb

Efficient payment is key for today's success in business catering and education catering. GiroWeb clients, self-catering companies and contract caterers, opt for a combination of cashless competency, reliable partnership and a long-term hedging of their investments, while keeping cost low. These are the top 10 benefits for a partnership with GiroWeb:

• Competence and experience: For over 30 years GiroWeb has been a first mover, technology pioneer and partner for cashless catering

• One stop solution: As a full-service provider with an excellent network they offer everything from A to Z around cashless payments

• Certified GiroWeb quality: Reliable solutions from design and development to integration and implementation with full-service

• Nearby regional contacts: GiroWeb is an experienced partner for new investments in Germany, offering local service and support

• Top value for money: GiroWeb stands for fair pricing, high quality, and state-of-the-art solutions for professional catering

• Managed investment risk: Hedging of investments by providing reliable operations and long-term availability of spare parts

• Efficient service: GiroWeb clients have direct access to experienced technical support staff in their region (on-site and remote)

• Transparency and fairness: No hidden costs, expensive help desks, ineffective chatbot software or endless waiting loops in IVRs

• All inclusive: Comprehensive packages, whether clients buy or rent, for self-catering organizations as well as contract caterers

• Long track-record of satisfied clients: With excellent references GiroWeb is one of the leading IT providers for cashless catering

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Links and Downloads

GiroWeb CCS - Cashless Catering Solutions:
• https://giro-web.com

GiroWeb Wiki - Glossary and Dictionary:
• https://giroweb.org

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GiroWeb Showrooms and Trade Fairs

Potential clients and partners who prefer personal experiences can meet GiroWeb live at a technology showroom, an on-site reference or a leading trade fair such as the Internorga in Hamburg. The GiroWeb team looks forward to discussing trends in digitization, suitable solutions and best practice for new investments in cashless catering systems and processes. Among the current highlights are:

• Cashless payment: GiroWeb offers cloud, POS, tablet and smartphone solutions supporting multiple top-up and payment methods

• Self-checkout: GiroWeb combines proven POS technology with intuitive self-service including mobile payment (e.g. RFID, NFC, QR)

• Automatic food recognition: GiroWeb integrates artifical intelligence (AI) to recognize dishes and beverages with highest accuracy

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Links and Downloads

GiroWeb @ Internorga:
• https://www.internorga.com/en/platform/IN23/corporation/giroweb-nord-gmbh@87481

GiroWeb CCS - Cashless Catering Solutions:
• https://giro-web.com

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ASM GmbH
Partner der GiroWeb Gruppe
Kniebisstr. 5
71088 Holzgerlingen
pr (at) giroweb.org

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About GiroWeb

GiroWeb is a group of IT companies with regional offices throughout Germany and an international network of system integration partners. GiroWeb develops, produces, installs and integrates hardware and software focusing on complete solutions for cashless ordering, payment and transaction clearing in the area of communal catering. GiroWeb is continually expanding their strong market position with reliable solutions, innovative products and a wide range of services across all industries and for all sizes of company and organization. With a long track-record of satisfied clients and first class references GiroWeb is one of Germany's leading IT partners for cashless catering.

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Links and Downloads

GiroWeb CCS - Cashless Catering Solutions:
• https://giro-web.com

GiroWeb Wiki - Glossary and Dictionary:
• https://giroweb.org

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This release was published on openPR.