SA food tech startup launches initiative to support local restaurants

Cape Town-based food tech startup SnapMenu is offering locals the chance to win R1 000 in bitcoin for supporting local restaurants. 

SnapMenu is offering locals the chance to win R1 000 worth of Bitcoin by supporting local restaurants

In a statement to Ventureburn, Shai Unterslak provides insight into how the initiative works. 

“The campaign is simple; you visit the restaurant and scan a QR code on your table, order your food through a digital menu and you stand a chance to win up to R1 000 worth of bitcoin. The startup said that this is not only expected to drive more customers and create a unique experience worth talking about, but their menu itself has other financial benefits to the restauranteur. The SnapMenu team have brought on leading behavioural scientists and user experience designers to develop a digital menu that makes customers spend more money.”

The global pandemic has had a catastrophic effect on the restaurant industry in South Africa and in a plight to assist these vital businesses, SnapMenu is encouraging locals to visit these restaurants by offering bitcoin in return.

The initiative will run during March and is currently being piloted at Superette, a restaurant located in Woodstock, Cape Town. The food tech startup plans to launch this initiative in other restaurants across the country.

SnapMenu

Founded in July 2020 by entrepreneurial trio Shai Unterslak, Max Tyrrell, and Gabriel Stein, SnapMenu is an online ordering system for restaurants that allows sitdown customers to order and pay for their food directly from their mobile devices. 

Unterslak sheds light on the aims of the newly established food tech startup.

“Our aim is to make restaurants more money by making world-class menu engineering accessible to every restaurant. Current menu engineers and menu consultants are delivering great value to their customers, but not every restaurant has the money to engage these specialists. The amazing thing about technology is that you can do the costly research and development once, and then make the world’s best menu accessible to every restaurant.”

The easy-to-use platform allows customers to simply scan a QR code present at tables to browse a restaurant’s menu and place their order online. 

Unterslak explains that the implementation of an eCommerce-type function for restaurants can have a positive impact on overall revenue returns for businesses.

“Menus are an incredibly important asset to restaurants. The way menus are presented and the way prices are set have a significant impact on a restaurant’s ability to generate profitable sales. It’s easy to forget the fact that a menu is simply a catalogue, and ordering and paying for food is simply a transaction. Other forms of commerce have evolved and have been enhanced by technology, and so we’re making sure that restaurants don’t get left behind. What we’re seeing is that you can actually apply proven e-commerce techniques like cross selling, up-selling and personalisation to digital menus in a way that can increase the average order value for restaurants by over 20%.”

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Featured image: (From left to right) Shai Unterslak and Max Tyrrell, co-founders of SnapMenu (Supplied)