In recent months, consumers have had to get used to scanning a QR code at restaurant tables to view menus. Are they ready to settle the bill virtually, too, without waiting for the waiter? The French company Sunday, which has just bought the young Montreal startup CHK PLZ, aims to equip a thousand Canadian restaurants with such technology by the end of 2022.
In Quebec, some fifty restaurants are already using this functionality offered by CHK PLZ. One of those is Umami Ramen on Clark Street in the Mile-Ex neighborhood. Customers have the choice of paying in the classic way or scanning the QR code on the table with their phone, whenever they want, to view and process their bill. They can enter their credit card information or use Apple or Google Pay, for example.
What proportion of customers choose the technological option? “We’re getting closer to halfway,” observes the chef and owner of this vegan restaurant, Cédric Charron.
Mr. Charron is convinced that this method of payment is part of the future of the restaurant industry. It frees up the staff, overworked due to the shortage of manpower, from an unattractive task. “They can focus more on the customer experience,” he notes. “Even if some people prefer to pay with the card, ultimately things go even faster this way,” adds Mr. Charron. As soon as you have finished eating, you can pay and say goodbye to the waiter. “
CHK PLZ co-founder Roberto Casoli, the new Managing Director for Canada at Sunday, wants to convince hundreds of restaurants across the country to embrace the technology. “For a restaurant near the Bell Center, where the majority of customers go to watch the hockey game, everyone wants to pay at the same time, but there are only a few payment terminals. With Sunday’s solution, every customer has their payment terminal in their pocket, ”says Mr. Casoli.
He says customers are more comfortable ordering coffee or dessert if they know they will be able to pay quickly. In the experience of restaurateurs to date, customers who use this payment method tip 18% more than others.
Expansion project
Founded in 2018 by engineering students from McGill University, CHK PLZ also offers online ordering, delivery and electronic menu services to 300 restaurants. For restaurateurs like Mr. Charron, this is a “4 in 1” package.
Mr. Casoli and his team are now aiming for pan-Canadian expansion, which will be accelerated by funds from Sunday, a company that has developed similar technology. In less than a year of existence, it seems to have experienced tremendous growth. She works with 1,500 restaurants in France, UK, USA, Spain and now Canada.
The core of six employees of CHK PLZ, which remains in place, will be increased. “We want to hire ten employees by the end of the year and many more the following year,” says Mr. Casoli.
The restaurant industry, which seeks to reduce its dependence on labor, is hot with technological innovations, according to the director of public and government affairs at the Association Restauration Quebec, Martin Vézina. He recalls that the Torontonian Moneris acquired in early October the Quebec company UEAT, which offers online ordering technologies at home and payment terminals in restaurants.
“Technological platforms can be useful,” Judge Vézina. He lists other types of innovations, like smart ovens and automated bartenders.
It remains to be seen whether restaurant owners, many of whom have been weakened by the pandemic, will have the necessary capital to invest in these technologies. And if consumers will agree to eliminate certain human interactions.