Finding the right technology for your restaurant or bar can be a game-changer when it comes to protecting your leading source of income – the cocktail and bar business.
Pay & Pour technology not only streamlines the ordering and payment process but also eliminates the stress caused by increasing minimum wage and a shrinking labor pool.
With this innovative solution, you can reduce labor costs by automating the pouring and payment process, ensuring accuracy and efficiency. By embracing this technology, you can focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences and maximizing your profitability without compromising on quality.
Josh Goodman, Founder & CEO, PourMyBeer
As the craft beer market flourishes and cocktail creativity is embraced by dining patrons, food service operations are looking for new ways to provide quality experiences for customers while simultaneously increasing revenue and reducing waste.
Over 530 businesses across the United States, including hotels, resorts, and grocery stores, have turned to the up-and-coming powerhouse, PourMyBeer, to access its state-of-the-art self-serve beer and cocktail technology.
Their recent industry report highlights the reach that the company has made over the last few years and its edge in today’s ever-evolving beverage industry.
“Like many businesses, ours came out of a place of discomfort,” said Josh Goodman, the founder and CEO of PourMyBeer. “I was out with a bunch of friends and couldn’t get a drink [due to slow service], and it just hit me: we can pump our own gas, why can’t we pour our own drinks?”
Goodman came up with the idea for self-serve drinks back in 2009, and since then, the company has grown exponentially, despite his initial lack of entrepreneurial knowledge.
“Like most new businesses, we had a lot of expensive lessons, but our motto is that we learn from those mistakes,” he said, explaining the ups-and-downs of the company’s early days.
After a few partners fell through, Goodman partnered with a business out of Austria that created the first prototypes.
By 2015, PourMyBeer officially kicked off. The company sold about 30 projects throughout the first year of business, and since then, it has only continued growing, reaching both small businesses and large marketplaces, such as Whole Foods and Dave and Busters.
The self-serve beverage taps work with customers and employees to make the beverage dispensing experience quick and easy. They are customizable to all types of food service operations, and operators can choose how many taps they want to have installed.
“We have our installations down to around 40 minutes per self-pour tap when we get onsite,” Goodman said. “Our team prides itself on setting every customer up for success through education and project management, which can take about 3 months from the time a contract is secured.”
The majority of PourMyBeer’s customers utilize their Point of Sales integrations. Upon arrival, customers can open a tab and connect it to an RFID card or have a QR code texted to them, giving them access to pour any beverage from the self-pour system. Each tap typically has between two and three beverage options, along with information about the beverage itself.
“We also have a payment solution for live events and stadiums called “Pay & Pour,” where guests authorize their credit card using the card or their phone, and they can begin pouring,” Goodman explained.
If a customer can’t decide what to purchase, it’s not a problem, nor is it a cost efficiency issue for the business. The taps associated with the screen above it allow guests to see the amount of ounces they’re pouring and what they’re being charged, as they pour.
“This empowers the user to sample as much or as little as they want,” Goodman said. “They’re getting charged for the samples, but it’s an incremental amount.”
The complex technology behind each tap also allows businesses to look at insights that calculate how well each beverage is performing, and which beverages customers tend to go back to after trying samples.
Each time a customer wants a new beverage, they’re free to refill it themselves with no waiting necessary.
The ever-changing options in the self-serve taps also make it particularly exciting for the customer. “People want to go back to the same bar, but they don’t want to see the same products every time they go back,” Goodman said.
In PourMyBeer’s industry report, they found that many customers returned each day from Thursday through Saturday, because they knew that the same product wouldn’t be available come Sunday.
This constant rotation of beers is especially beneficial in places where there are loyal craft beer followers. “They’re going to go places based on where it will be on tap,” Goodman said.
But PourMyBeer isn’t just limited to craft beer; many businesses are also utilizing its technology to serve cocktails. To guarantee quality and freshness, the taps feature a technology that keeps the drinks mixing from first pour to last.
PourMyBeer’s growth is a true testament to the number of issues they have solved in just one simple solution, one of which is the large carbon footprint many food service businesses emit each year.
“We’re preventing millions of cans and bottles from going to waste with our technology,” Goodman said. In addition, the self-serve dispensers have a high return on investment.
Goodman said that most of their businesses make a return on their investment after just six and a half months of implementation. “And with hotels,” he continued, “we have some that have had a two-month return on investment.”
Another data point collected was the percentage revenue of staffing. In food service operations, that percentage is generally in the 30% range. However, in operations featuring PourMyBeer’s technology, the percentage is just 10%.
“We’re not trying to displace workers, we’re trying to repurpose them,” Goodman said, emphasizing the company’s priority to make things as efficient as possible.
During the pandemic, PourMyBeer faced many of the same struggles as others in the food industry. However, its business model was surprisingly resilient through it all. “In a traditional tap room, you may have seven or eight people touching that glass before the last customer is touching that glass,” said Goodman.
“With self-pour, the only person touching it is the customer.” Because of its safe and minimal-contact design, PourMyBeer lost very little time in the building of its brand.
According to their report, PourMyBeer has generated 60 million additional dollars in revenue for its restaurant and bar portfolio of clients at a variety of venues across the country.
And yet, while the company has proved to have great success, Goodman says that it is still in its early stage of awareness and belief.
With both the literal and figurative bars being raised, PourMyBeer is at the center of a revolution in which hospitality is still defined by a restaurants staff while being supplemented by the very latest technology.
To get more information on PourMyBeer’s innovative research and beverage dispensing solutions, simply contact them online at PourMyBeer’s website or by phone at (312) 416-9989.
Their team will assist you in exploring the possibilities of their cutting-edge technologies, and help you revolutionize your restaurant’s beverage service.
