How partner collaboration between Polaris Elements & Evo helped enhance Turtle Bay’s guest experiences
Turtle Bay
With over 40 restaurants across the UK, Turtle Bay is bringing the flair and flavour of Caribbean food out of the World Food aisle and into the culinary mind-sets of British restaurant goers.
Whether it’s bottomless brunch, a special occasion or after-work drinks, their Caribbean inspired cuisine, reasonably-priced menu and expansive selection of tropical cocktails have made Turtle Bay a destination in its own right and the leading operator of Caribbean restaurants in the world.
Positive engagement at all junctures of the customers’ journey
Key to Turtle Bay’s success and growth has been their ability to give a full sense of their unique vibe while setting guests’ expectation high from the moment they make a booking with colourful confirmation emails and tailored content. Inviting imagery of blue skies and white sandy beaches compliment the future promise of fiery jerk chicken wings, burgers with tropical toppings and rum-based, beachside drinks.
Balancing that need to then deliver this top-rated customer experience at their reggae-chic inspired outlets while supporting staff within a busy environment meant that Turtle Bay needed an innovative payment solution. It needed to enhanced their customer service when ordering and paying instead of just automating those interactions with point of sale technology with payment integration.
They’ve found this with EVO Payments and Polaris Elements collaborating to deliver a bespoke payments solution that does exactly that. Ben Hibbard, Head of Marketing at Turtle Bay, and Neil Westwater, Managing Director of Polaris Elements, discuss how the mPay solution has benefitted Turtle Bay, their staff and guests.
Payments as a pain point
When reflecting on how well Turtle Bay’s team interact with their guests, Ben notes that taking payment had historically been an area they wanted to enhance.
“One issue that used to come back from mystery diners, and we all experience when we eat out, is in relation to paying the bill. It can take time to get a server’s attention, and, particularly with us where most of our guests opt to pay with card, there is good bit of back and forth before the bill and card machine are presented to the table.”
Not only did payments add friction to customers’ experiences, Turtle Bay’s team also felt an innovative point of sale system with payment technology would increase the ease of carrying out their role.
Ben notes how Turtle Bay looked into ordering and pay at table options but none of the options fit with their approach. “We put such an emphasis on engaging with our guests. Why would we want to remove that and make them do the ordering through their phones? It works for others but it didn’t suit our business. So, we spoke with Neil from Polaris to see what could be done.”
mPay
Neil reflects on how Polaris searched the market to find a fitting solution. With EVO Payments, they built a bespoke solution through a PAX A920 Pro terminal.
mPAY is a ground-breaking SmartPOS terminal that helps increase the speed of service while optimising staff’s time with customers.
“Orders are instantly processed on a single device with menu item availability visible on the device and integrated with Polaris ePos.”
“Staff can take orders on the mPay device and send the order though to the kitchen or bar. At the end of the meal, customers can then pay seamlessly by card with staff carrying the mobile device around with them, rather than having to go to a single point of sale unit or then having to double back for a card terminal.”
Easy to set-up and use from the get-go, Neil mentions that the longest part of the process is putting in the WiFi password.
How business and partner collaboration helped add value to service
Proving hugely popular with Turtle Bay teams and users, mPay has not only streamlined ordering and billing but has added to the ordering experience.
“The issues we had are gone now because our team have it in their hands – that ability to take orders and settle bills.”
Polaris data points to huge improvement in efficiencies and Neil offers a story he heard that sums up how it benefits both customers and staff.
“Someone recently told me how they ordered their drinks at a Turtle Bay and just as the waitress had finished talking them through the menu, the drinks arrived. Without the solution, staff would have to go to the bar to log the drinks order and lose out on engaging with customers about their meal.”
Ben notes how these kind of interactions are invaluable in maintaining Turtle Bay’s high reputation and brand. “It’s hard to put a figure on it and our teams already do it so well. But enabling them to chat a bit more with guests and build that rapport further gives them added insights into who we are as a brand. This has helped us build on an already industry-leading net promoter score.”
Meeting heightened customer expectation
For Neil, an open and collaborative nexus between merchant, software vendor and payment services provider has been key to the solution’s success.
“It has become a much more collaborative environment and that’s where you realise success. We’ve gone on a huge journey since we originally started working with Turtle Bay in 2009 as a tech supplier. Demand now trickles down from the consumer and drives change and drives the partner collaboration with payments provider.”
“Ben and the team speak with their customers who then convert their feedback into a requirement. We work with them to deliver on that. The technology we’ve created here with EVO, nobody else really does it. It keeps us as a top service provider by developing the technology required by our customers.”
Turtle Bay has set themselves apart as industry leaders in the UK’s hospitality sector. Given the consideration given to their customers’ journey, it’s no surprise they resource such effort to meet guests’ payment expectations. With EVO and Polaris they’ve achieved this with guests enjoying what the Caribbean outlet does best. Rum, Reggae & Jerk.
Get in touch to find out more about Polaris mPay and how you can launch it in your venue(s) now
Turtle Bay
With over 40 restaurants across the UK, Turtle Bay is bringing the flair and flavour of Caribbean food out of the World Food aisle and into the culinary mind-sets of British restaurant goers.
Whether it’s bottomless brunch, a special occasion or after-work drinks, their Caribbean inspired cuisine, reasonably-priced menu and expansive selection of tropical cocktails have made Turtle Bay a destination in its own right and the leading operator of Caribbean restaurants in the world.
