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Rustic wooden chairs, worn-looking dull green patterned sofas and black and white photographs on the walls: anyone who enters the Outback Lodge restaurant near Zurich’s Stadelhofen train station feels as if they are traveling back in time. The music of the future is playing here.
Cash has had its day in the Wiesner Gastronomy family. Since December 11, guests are only allowed to pay cashless at the chain’s more than 30 restaurants. Daniel (40) and Manuel Wiesner (37) took over joint management of the family business in 2020. Manuel Wiesner and his brother are responsible for strategy and (digital) innovation.
His laptop with all the numbers and stats is always handy on the table at the Outback Lodge. Presenter Jörn Haupt (49) runs the Outback Lodge in Stadelhofen. After receiving the latest information from the service personnel, he sits next to Manuel Wiesner.
Blick: As corporate owners, do you still have cash with you?
Jörn Haupt: I pay almost everything by card. I actually gave some money to my nephew as a Christmas present. However, I always have 100 to 150 francs with me as an emergency fund.
Manuel Wiesner: I’ve been traveling without a wallet since 2020 and paying for everything with my mobile phone. I keep a 50 bill in my phone bag for emergencies.
What are Outback Lodge guests saying about your move to cashless payments?
Mother: Before the launch, several regulars announced they would no longer be coming. But they still enjoy visiting the countryside.
But what about guests who suspect that the elimination of cash is a global conspiracy to establish an all-out surveillance state?
Mother: We have had one such customer so far. But honestly, most of us give a lot more on social media than we do by card. The biggest risk is probably your domestic partner looking at your bank statement. With the issue, dinner became more delicate for us. (Laughs)
Some may avoid your local establishments out of spite, without your knowledge. How did sales develop?
Wiesner: We see no negative impact due to cashless operation. There was a slight decline in the catering industry overall in the second half of the year. However, our sales figures are currently only slightly below the previous year, which was very good.
What do you do if a guest orders, eats, and doesn’t have a card?
Mother: This happened a few times in the beginning. In these cases I paid with my card and received the money. The next time they had the card with them. We also wrote everywhere, for example on menus, that we no longer accept cash.
You complete it quickly with cash. Are employees losing tips due to card payments?
Mother: Staff initially feared they would receive less tips. However, our previous experience shows that guests tip slightly more.
How do you explain this?
Wiesner: Employees have more time for service. We also simplified the payment process a while ago. The hardest part about going to a restaurant is that guests want to get back to work shortly after lunch and have to wait longer for the bill in a full restaurant. Our guests can pay with their mobile phones by scanning the QR code cube on the table. This saves time for staff and guests. And here, too, we have yet to see any negative consequences in terms of tips.
How much would you save by going cashless?
Wiesner: We estimate that we save around 50,000 francs per month. By 2022, more than 95 percent of our guests were already paying digitally. With this ratio, cash expenditures and incomes no longer match. For example, we no longer have to provide cash stock to all service workers every day. This saves time and money. But saving has never been our main motivation.
In its place?
Wiesner: We want to use the time we save to further train our staff and further increase the quality of service. Additionally, our service staff spares 10-15 minutes for payment every evening. Our system does everything automatically. Employees no longer need to worry about not having enough money in their wallets in the evening. And no one needs to deposit money in the bank after it closes for the evening. This improves work-life balance. We were already convinced in 2017 that the cashless system would bring many advantages. At that time, 64 percent of our guests were paying in cash.
So how did you convince guests of this?
Wiesner: By making it as easy as possible for guests to pay by card or app. Previously, staff had to pick up one of two readers at the register. As of 2017, everyone in service had a device. The pandemic has also definitely impacted our guests’ payment behavior towards digital payments.
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
