How Upsale, India's first AI-based restaurant interactive menu is all set to revolutionise the $68B HoReCa industry - YourStory

India, the land of spices, is indeed one of the most favourable ecospheres for the restaurant industry because of the way diverse flavours are accepted and appreciated. But the pandemic proved to be a major setback for the dine-in segment after which the industry experienced a digital hunger that demanded the automation of restaurant management, labour management, menu management, and customer retention solutions among several others.

Although several players in the market have helped ease and scale operational efficiencies for restaurants through smart, innovative SaaS products and POS systems, sadly, 6 out of 10 restaurants still shut down within the very first year of their incorporation because of major gaps in ROI and profitability.

This is when founders Sukrat Ray and Neha Khandelwal discovered the need to disrupt the restaurant SaaS industry to help restaurants enhance their dine-in services and boost profitability through a seamless engagement, marketing, and payment ecosystem. Founded in September 2021, UpSale empowers restaurants to engage with their customers individually, collect customer feedback, and market and re-market their offerings, all backed by its proprietary next-gen menu engineering technology. This will help all restaurants offer a seamless, hyper-personalised dining experience to each of their customers.

UpSale breaks away from conventional communication channels like email and SMS and connects restaurants with their customers directly through WhatsApp, the most preferred communication channel used by Indians today. UpSale with WhatsApp is skyrocketing sales and ROI for restaurants and has successfully enabled HoReCas to generate customer loyalty with a retention rate like never before.

The UpSale way to upsell

UpSale generates unique table QR codes for every restaurant, which diners can scan using their smartphone camera or their WhatsApp camera found on the inbox screen.

The QR code takes them directly to the restaurant’s WhatsApp channel where they are welcomed with a personalised message that includes best-seller suggestions along with food item names that diners around them are enjoying the most at that very moment. The message also includes a link to the restaurant's interactive menu catalogue, which is again designed and built by UpSale to enhance customer experience and make dining a delightful experience.

Simultaneously, the restaurant manager is immediately informed about the diners at the table since UpSale's smart tech for managers, Order Connect App, is integrated with every QR code and the restaurant’s existing POS. Managers/order captains are also equipped with a secured customer profile database which tells them about customers’ previous ordering patterns and food preferences. This menu engineering technology allows managers to suggest foods and upsell items while ensuring a very hyper-personalised dine-in experience for every customer, whether new or recurring. This system is easy to integrate and comes with a zero learning curve to ensure no operational disturbances.

Furthermore, the order connect app also allows managers to instantly process bills and send them to consumers on their WhatsApp without having to run to POS systems every time a bill is asked for. UpSale has integrated payment gateways in its interface which allows consumers to pay bills and give tips, all through the ease of WhatsApp.

“Our proprietary cloud-based interactive WhatsApp dine-in menu is not just a menu, but a revolutionary ecosystem that is every restaurant’s key to boosting sales and making guests fall in love with their services and offerings,” said Sukrat.

UpSale’s resolve-to-evolve approach to customer feedback

While customer feedback is crucial for every restaurant owner to know what aspects they can work on to please and attract more customers, dealing with the cons of negative feedback is not something every restaurant can handle. This puts F&B merchants in a difficult spot when it comes to acquiring customer feedback, thus increasing customer attrition.

UpSale simplifies the feedback muddle for restaurants by helping them gather customer feedback through an ingenious method. After the consumers have dined in a particular restaurant, they are sent an automated yet personalised message that asks about their dining experience. The message has three options to select from- 5 Star Rating, 4 Star Rating, and Not Satisfied. The first two options redirect diners directly to the restaurant’s Google profile where they can drop their reviews. However, if a diner opts for the third option, they are sent a message that humbly asks about the reasons for their dissatisfaction.

This helps restaurants get familiar with the nuances of the loopholes in their services and allows them to work on improving their customer services, all while ensuring their public image is not affected.

“We have had endless brainstorming sessions with our team to crack the feedback crisis every restaurant owner faces in India. We have also discovered that restaurant owners are more eager to know the negative reviews because that way they can leave no stone unturned in offering the best to their customers. From issues with crockery to chutneys and the ambience, I have seen all kinds of feedback and I couldn’t be happier about the way UpSale's resolve-to-evolve approach is bridging the gap between restaurants and their customers without negatively impacting anybody,” said Neha.

Growth is just an understatement when it comes to numbers

Within just one year of its launch, Upsale has already acquired 750+ restaurants pan India including restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, and nightclubs. The company is currently handling 4.5L+ menu scans a month, 10L+ unique consumers and is witnessing a stupendous 30 per cent month-on-month growth. UpSale’s clients are currently witnessing a minimum 20-25 per cent growth in sales and revenue along with an unexpected boost in positive, genuine Google reviews as well, which have in turn enhanced footfall and generated immense trust among consumers for the restaurants.

“We’ve worked very hard to identify loopholes in the restaurant industry from the perspectives of both sellers and eaters, and have developed and executed solutions that are backed by technology, human intelligence, and AI - a combination that I haven’t seen executed in the way UpSale does. It also puts the company in a position to launch its financial services segment in future to have an upper hand on digital wallets, invoicing, and offering capital to restaurants that are often refused loans”, added Neha.

Can UpSale help restaurants attract customers?

Restaurant owners spend 5-8 per cent of their total budget for marketing purposes, but finding and attracting new customers that are looking for what they offer is still quite a challenge.

UpSale aims to resolve this issue and minimise their marketing expenditure by helping every restaurant run targeted ads and campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. With ground-breaking algorithms, UpSale helps restaurants thrive through the Meta ecosystem by running curated ads to attract new and look-alike customers.

Its fast-growing popularity among Indian F&B merchants empowers its data-driven ecosystem to connect every restaurant with consumers who will resonate the most with its services.

“We look at restaurant merchants, whether big or SMEs, as our equal partners and all of them want to connect with customers directly without any third-party platforms acting as digital landlords. We are committed to supporting our merchants (partners), to help them generate more sales and increase their efficiencies by giving them an easy and advanced tech platform. With this, we can ensure their sustainability and profitability. UpSale will only grow when our clients grow, that’s how I see it and that’s how we have designed our company to be,” said Sukrat.

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