Rick Stein

Rick Stein’s 12 unique venues across the south of England vary in dining styles - from a casual and cosy style cafe experience, to classic French bistro atmospheres and full-service formal dining. 

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Rick Stein partnered with Pepper to offer customers flexible digital ordering and payment experiences that would suit each service model, most recently adopting Pepper’s NEW product - Pay at table. 

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Driving efficiency

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Pay at table allows customers to scan a QR code to view their bill, split with others and pay - in just a few taps.

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David Lawley, Systems Co-ordinator at Rick Stein, said that the solution ‘provides a very useful option for people that ultimately are in a rush - it’s interesting, the feedback we get is very good.

‘We regard it as a valuable service for our customers,’ David went on to say. ‘The world of payments is changing and people want to do everything on their phone these days - they book their table and send their feedback with their mobile, so why shouldn’t they pay on their phone too?’

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Pay at table is incredibly efficient, when compared to a traditional service model where a server brings a bill over, waits for customers to review it and returns to taking payment - all of which can take up to 15 minutes in a busy restaurant.

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David commented: ‘I think it makes you more robust. It comes into its own when sites are at their busiest and takes pressure off the team.’

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Bill splitting for large groups can also be time-consuming for staff, especially during busy periods. With Pay at table, Rick Stein guests can split the bill on their smartphones either by share or custom amount, and then swiftly pay with either Apple or Google Pay. ‘We see it as an entirely positive thing, and it’s incredibly useful’ David said.

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Pay at table takes away the manual labour of taking payments, and allows staff to focus on orders and providing the best possible customer service. 

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Fully-integrated

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Pay at table is not only seamlessly integrated to Rick Stein’s EPOS, but also with their other digital journeys.

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The Rick Stein app launched at the end of 2020, allowing customers to order to their table at dine-in venues; and at takeaway locations such as Stein’s Fish and Chips in Padstow, there is the option to order ahead and collect your order when it’s ready. 

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‘It’s definitely become part of our model,’ said David, ‘in the chip shop, it drip feeds orders and makes service easier to manage.’ 

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With over 66,000 active users and almost 100,000 orders placed via the app since launch, it’s played a key part in streamlining Rick Stein’s operations.

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Partnership

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David finished by saying ‘I think our relationship with Pepper is one of the best relationships we have with any of our suppliers, and we appreciate the fact that a lot of the suggestions that we have highlighted have been acted upon.’

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‘We’ve had a long relationship now and we have the consistency of who we speak to with our dedicated account manager. We enjoy working with Pepper.’