NFS tech group

It’s tough in 2019, as anyone in hospitality can tell you – so it’s just as well that technology has been evolving fast to give restaurants, pubs and bars the support they need to succeed. Smart establishments have turned to bar and restaurant management systems to slash costs and reduce waste. They also use it to grow revenue and control their stock, labour and even allergen risk effectively. Aloha by NFS, our well-regarded restaurant POS software, is a popular choice and recently teamed up with  Kitchen CUT  – a scalable SaaS technology that delivers control over food and beverage operations. Together, the technologies provide valuable control over areas that go all the way from cost reduction to ingredient selection and allergen warnings. This means chefs can design menus while keeping within budget, and reveals potential allergens in ingredients, so dishes are controlled to individual ingredient level. The live information is drawn through to each sub-recipe...

In his famous  TED talk , organisational consultant Simon Sinek outlines how Apple differentiates itself from its competitors by challenging the status quo by beginning with why the customer wants to purchase an Apple product – they want beautifully designed and user-friendly products. The features are secondary if considered at all. Where Apple’s competitors had failed in their marketing was to make a deep emotional connection with their audience. Rather than focus on features Apple focussed on the simplicity and utility of the device – the iPod’s design language such as the thumbwheel, for example, making it easier to select music than traditional push buttons. In a competitive landscape for hoteliers, they need to look to differentiate themselves from the competition which may now include other companies who have challenged the status quo such as Airbnb. With so much consumer choice in the hotel business it is no longer just a case of setting up a website with a basic ...

Twenty years ago no-one could have predicted that Amazon, from its humble beginnings as an online bookstore, would explode in quite the way it has – now accounting for  5% of all US retail spend . After several years of not making a profit, CEO Jeff Bezos is now worth $150 billion. With a 49% share of all US online commerce it’s only a matter of time before they are making more money than all their online competitors combined. As a corollary, traditional stores such as Toys R Us didn’t adapt to Amazon and have withered away completely. The growth of Uberization Of course, Amazon largely makes its money in the provision of tangible goods. What is striking about many other well-known online brands is that they don’t hold or ship any inventory at all. “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company owns no vehicles, Facebook the world’s most popular media owner creates no content, Alibaba, the most valuable retailer has no inventory and Airbnb the world’s largest accommodation ...