The order and pay solution that lets guests stay immersed in a “real Instagrammable moment”

We sat down with Matt Lawrence, General Manager of TOCA Social at O2 Arena in London to talk about how upgrading their order and pay solution has enhanced their guest experience.

“TOCA was founded in the US by ex-US national midfielder Eddie Lewis  and was primarily built as a training business to develop athletes and young people and engage them into football through TOCA’s proprietary technology,” Matt said.

“The opportunity was seen to build something that English people like, which is football, mixed with good food and good drink and gamify it… and here we are sitting in the O2 a few years later with thousands of balls being kicked.

Guests can get their heads in the game and channel their inner Haaland before they’ve even entered their box as they walk through the experience tunnel to the sound of crowd cheers.

“They can expect this surprise-and-delight moment of coming through the experience tunnel, the anticipation moment going into the box where they're going to experience a fantastic game, complemented by signature cocktails as well as great twists on food and beverage.”

“It's a real Instagrammable moment”

Speaking on how order & pay fits into the guest experience at TOCA, Matt says it is a no-brainer solution for helping guests easily order and enjoy food and drink whilst staying immersed in what they came for- the game.

“The obvious thing people come for right off the bat is they want to come and play. And when you're immersed in that gaming environment and you're there with your friends, your family, whatever it might be, you don't want to leave or necessarily get distracted by somebody coming in.

“You want to be able to work on your own terms between the games and that's where order and pay really compliments the social entertainment model because you don't have to leave your box.

“And you can see that just in terms of table uptake order and pay within the boxes where people are engaged in the game.”

“There are 350 to 400% more scans, or orders, then you will get on tables where people aren't engaged with a game, they're there and they've got all the time in the world. But when you're in the game, you want to be quick and efficient.

“It supports our team”

TOCA Social uses me&u to help support their team and compliment their personable service style, especially during busy shifts.

“Great example was the recent Women's World Cup final. We had X teammates in the venue at one time but we had an awful lot of guests. They want that efficiency and it supports our team who can't get to every table, to every guest, because that guest can make that order and then they can deliver that personal service when they come to the table.”

“Commercially, having a system that picks up those sales opportunities that we might not have captured. It makes perfect sense.”

Upgrading to me&u

“We've used previous platforms, but the user experience, all of the things that really mattered from an operational standpoint as well as from a guest standpoint, weren't really there. We've done our research across a number of platforms. me&u stood out head and shoulders above all the other competitors that we were looking at”

No one likes boring and unnecessary admin, especially when you have to do it twice - the seamless direct integration between their POS and me&u has allowed TOCA Social to cut admin time for their team.

“The POS system is changing and it's speaking to me&u, so you don't have to go and spend that time doing two different things, meaning you get more time with the guest, more time, more time focusing on what's really important.”

“Utilising the back-end system is really straightforward. It's a very user-friendly system from an operational perspective.”

“The beauty of me&u is that you've got that support online, 24/7. There's always somebody there to help you out.”

“It's a real saviour when you do get caught offside. See what I did there?”

To get started with a custom order-from-whatever-area-you-don’t-want-to-leave, check out our Serve product here.