On 7th Feb 2023, the Aussies opened the batting at Lords Cricket Ground. But this wasn’t the Ashes, and for once, both sides were winners. The event was the UK launch of Redcat, one of Australia’s leading hospitality software platform providers.
Redcat co-hosted the event with two of its Aussie partners – both already well established in the UK market – Impact Data and Workforce. It was an evening of information, introductions, networking and a lot of fun.
A new face in UK hospitality
The event generated significant interest from the Fast Casual and QSR sector, with a number of well-known UK brands in attendance, wanting to learn more about the UK’s newest hospitality platform - Redcat. They were joined by a wide range of Redcat’s other hospitality industry partners, including Google, Stripe, Just Eat, Apicbase, Tenzo, QSR Automations, Yumpingo, Twice Baked Consulting, Dojo, DNA Payments and hardware vendors Oxhoo, Aures and Pioneer.
Redcat
Guests heard presentations from each of the three event hosts. Firstly, Redcat’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Lawrence Pelletier, introduced the Redcat complete hospitality platform to the UK audience. He started his presentation by explaining the history of Lords as the home of the longstanding England/Australia rivalry. He had even brought along an Ashes replica to illustrate the story!
Lawrence then spoke about Redcat, and what makes it different from other hospitality solutions. He stressed that Redcat is a transaction platform, not just a POS, and that the platform incorporates a complete suite of back and front-of-house functions. He particularly focussed on omnichannel loyalty, integrated online ordering, white-label delivery and the value of first-party data, and menu information management.
He talked about the benefits of the Redcat integrated platform approach, and how it has helped an impressive list of QSRs, fast casual dining, and multi-site venue operators in places such as the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Middle East. These include Boost Juice and The Shake Lab, (both of which use Redcat in their UK venues), Nando’s, Grill’d, Chatime, and many other loved and familiar brands. Lawrence shared some of the success that these brands have had with the Redcat platform and how it has helped them to drive up sales, decrease costs, manage their business more efficiently, and delight their customers.
Lawrence also spoke about the absolutely crucial importance to Redcat of integrations and partnerships, and how the presence of so many partners in the room only served to reinforce the point.
Lawrence then went on to introduce two of those partners – Redcat’s co-hosts for the evening, Impact Data and Workforce.com.
Impact Data – data drive campaign management
David Bird, UK Sales Director for Impact Data, spoke about his company’s Talkbox software, which is fully integrated with Redcat. Talkbox helps hospitality businesses to analyse customer visits and transaction patterns so that they can get a deeper understanding of behaviours. They use this insight to automatically reach out to the right people at the right time with the right message to drive another visit or order. Talkbox captures all customer data in one place and helps QSRs and fast casual dining operators to understand how to manage campaigns for the biggest sales return.
Workforce.com – aligning staff rostering with sales
Wrapping things up was Roderick Schneider, COO of Workforce.com (known as TANDA in Australia). Workforce.com specialises in staff rostering – which can be a headache for many QSRs and casual dining venues. Too many staff means unnecessary costs, but too few impacts customer service. Workforce.com provides hospitality venues the ability to tie staff rostering to actual and predicted sales figures, ensuring adequate cover without cost blowout. Managers can track hours worked per employee, late-to-work stats, and overtime risks. Rosters can be built, then published to staff via a mobile app. Workforce.com delivers a potent ROI, not only in labour cost savings, but also in reduced risk of compliance failure, payroll efficiency, and management overhead.
Fun, information and…chocolate biscuits
After the formal presentations, informal networking meant that many attendees made new and valuable contacts. The event was the perfect mix of fun, information, and connection.
To top it all off, no one left empty-handed. One of the highlights of the event, along with the choice of venue, was the Aussie gifts and treats that attendees all took away with them. Guests received toy kangaroos and koalas wearing Redcat scarves, and the most coveted item of the evening – that classic Australian icon, TimTam chocolate biscuits.
