The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian restaurant yesterday said it has invested $10,000 in developing an e-commerce platform to meet the demands of COVID-19 lockdowns and business restrictions.

Wayne Wilson, owner/operator of Six ‘n Four restaurant, told Tribune Business: “We’re looking to move into the phase of whatever this new normal is, which is more contactless and more technology."

He added that he is “embracing technology in a fully integrated fashion to reduce customer contact for mostly safety reasons, health and safety, making sure we reduce contact between customers and our staff".

When asked how much this change has cost, Mr Wilson replied: “We have always been a business that is focused on technology, so some of the systems we have had in place you can call over-developed. It ended up benefiting us in the end because we were in a good place technology-wise to kind of transition into a lot of the integrations we have needed to transition into.

"So, overall, we’re probably looking at a $10,000 investment. What we are doing through the website will erase a server going to a customer completely, so that makes it transactionless. The food is prepared in as much as a sterile environment as there could be. We disinfect and clean every day. All of our surfaces are routinely cleaned, and everything that we do.”

Explaining the restaurant's technology focus, Mr Wilson added: "We got with our partners at Plato Alpha, and got them to create for us a fully integrated e-commerce website, which puts us really at the forefront of what’s happening in the restaurant industry.

"It puts us on an even field with any of the large international chains in terms of the way that we are able to conduct business, and the way that the systems are fully integrated to allow for the smooth flow of things through it.

“Once we engaged the services of Plato Alpha the process was definitely ‘owned’ by the team there," he continued. "They gathered contacts for our various service providers and began correspondence immediately on putting together the various complex integrations that were required to tie our in-store POS system directly with the website.

"In addition, they organised merchant services with our local bank and the third party provider, all in a seamless manner, as we gave basic information and access along the way to move the project forward.”

“As we evaluated our needs we came to understand that there were several approaches we could take, which had varying degrees of complexity, cost and ultimately effectiveness towards our end goal," Mr Wilson said.

"We discussed the options with the team at Plato Alpha and were impressed with their ability to outline and translate the technical hurdles into value-added touch points for our business. Ultimately we decided on a fully integrated e-commerce solution that we plan to take Six ‘n Four into 2021 and beyond.”

Mr Wilson added: “I think the biggest challenge for us is that with our restaurant, in particular, we’ve worked to create a physical service environment, one where we create an environment that is aesthetically pleasing and a lot of the elements we bring in from a brand perspective, we put into the physical brick and mortar.

"In addition to that we’re real big on service, and so it takes an element of that human service and personal touch; that is kind of the things we are known for. It takes that and it puts that in a new format. So our challenge is to really bring across a menu of those elements through the technology to our customers.

"That’s a challenge, but with everything else it is just business. You have to understand that it is something everyone else is facing, and it’s all about making it a priority and the figuring out how do you do the best job that you can.”