MICROS eCommerce

The Thirsty Bear in London has installed a new self-service system in their pub, which allows customers to pour their own beer and pay for it using an iPad on their table. My colleague Roisin and I went to check it out and see how it worked.

Most of the tables in The Thirsty Bear have a self-service system fitted, complete with beer pumps and glasses:

The barman took a debit card and activated it against one of their tab cards. The tab card sits on a sensor on the table which connects to the iPad and beer taps to keep a tab on everything we were ordering.

You can then pour out your own glass of either Amstel or Meantime Pale Ale on draught right at your table. As you pour your drink the iPad measures how much and then totals the amount on to your bill, which you can view at any time on the iPad.

The ipad is also used to order anything else you fancy from the bar. You can order any main courses, bar snacks and other drinks with just a few taps. What I found convenient was that you could see how much all the different spirits cost and how much the mixers were so you can see exactly how much you are paying for what.

I also thought a feature on the ipad called ‘build your own burger’ was cool as it helped you customise exactly how you wanted your burger. I did notice that there wasn’t anywhere to add notes about the order, for example extra onions, or cheese or sauces. It would be interesting to see if they develop a feature that would allow you to do this. There is, however, an option to ask for help by tapping the image of a waitress on the iPad and this prompts a member of staff to come over to your table, so you could notify them if you need any changes or extras added to your order.

We ordered some calamari and two glasses of wine which were brought to our table. The service was very fast – although it wasn’t very busy when we went in, this system would clearly be brilliant to cut out waiting time at the bar at peak times.

It didn’t stop there. On the ipad you can also pick a song off the jukebox for 25p per song which is then added to your bill.

We also noticed that you can connect to the internet through the iPad, allowing you to browse the internet. There is also a Twitter and Facebook app allowing you to keep up with social media and a Youtube app allows you to watch videos. You basically don’t need to move from your table at all, which creates a relaxing environment with no queuing, so you have more time to enjoy being with your friends.

The barman explained a bit more about how the system works. As soon as we place an order on our iPad it goes straight to their system behind the bar allowing them to pour our drinks or forward the order for food straight to the kitchen. They then get another notification from the kitchen when the food is ready to collect and serve to the customer. This integration of systems is really important as it makes sure that the innovative technology leads to excellent customer service – and that’s something that we are really focused on here at MICROS.

He also mentioned that one of their other pubs, The Lazy Fox in Fulham, has just created a  ‘beer wall’, which (as the name suggests) is a wall of beers on draught that you pour yourself and then the amount is then added to your tab card which you pay for at the end of your visit.

Overall I was impressed with how well the self-service system worked. You have complete control over how you are served and there is no need to wait for someone to come and take your order – you just order when you’re ready and when you’ve finished a drink you order a new one without leaving your seat. A great example of how technology can be used to transform the pub experience.