{"id":113877,"date":"2020-05-22T14:18:51","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T12:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=113877"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:56","slug":"how-slow-service-in-a-cafe-resulted-in-an-app-helping-cafes-adapt-to-the-coronavirus-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/05\/22\/how-slow-service-in-a-cafe-resulted-in-an-app-helping-cafes-adapt-to-the-coronavirus-restrictions\/","title":{"rendered":"How slow service in a caf\u00e9 resulted in an app helping caf\u00e9s adapt to the coronavirus restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

A start-up established by Erasmus University students is helping hotels, restaurants and caf\u00e9s comply with social distancing restrictions requiring customers to keep a 1.5-metre distance from each other and from staff. Once it became clear that hotels, restaurants and caf\u00e9s would have to start preparing for those restrictions, OrderMe started receiving a lot of phone calls. \u201cOn average, we receive twenty requests for help per day,\u201d says OrderMe founder Dex Holman.<\/p>\n

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The three founders of the start-up, Dex Holman, Floris Visser and Roderick Schuller, all aged 24, were busy writing their master degree theses on the subjects of Financial Economics, Data Science and Tax Law at Erasmus University when the orders started pouring in. \u201cWe had the plan a while ago, but now we\u2019re working on it full time,\u201d says Holman. They now only work on their theses on the weekends and in the evenings.<\/p>\n

Their idea was to create an app called OrderMe. \u201cIt allows you to place an order in a caf\u00e9 or restaurant on your phone, meaning no waiter or waitress will have to come to your table to take your order,\u201d says Holman. Things have begun to snowball for OrderMe now that caf\u00e9s and restaurants have to adapt to social distancing regulations. \u201cOn average, we receive twenty requests for help per day. Sometimes we receive close to forty. We get orders from the entire country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beer and 'bitterballen'<\/h2>
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An example of what the QR code might look like.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

So how does it work? \u201cEvery table will be provided with a QR sticker you can scan on your phone. A menu will then pop up on your phone, in which you can indicate what you wish to order. Your order can then be prepared. What is really great for caf\u00e9s and restaurants is that the app allows for upselling too. Upselling means the app will make a suggestion for another product if you buy one particular product. For instance: beer is often served with bitterballen <\/em>[round meat croquettes, a traditional Dutch caf\u00e9 snack \u2013 ed.]. If you order one thing, the app will suggest you order the other as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea was born from annoyance. One day, before the coronavirus outbreak, the three students (who met in a pub) were having some beers at a caf\u00e9\u2019s outdoor seating area. \u201cWe were waiting a long time to be served, so we began brainstorming. That\u2019s how we came up with this idea. I\u2019d seen a similar app used in China when I was an exchange student there.\u201d\u00a0And so OrderMe was born. It was also designed to reduce the amount of work to be done by waiting staff, since there was a waiting staff shortage before the coronavirus crisis.<\/p>\n

In the next few days, the start-up will focus on installing the app for all of its clients, so that they will be able to reopen their businesses on 1 June, when outdoor seating areas will be permitted to start operating again, provided they comply with social distancing regulations. \u201cWe can come and install the app in person, but we can also do it online.\u201d<\/p>\n

Room service<\/h2>

Most of their clients are restaurants and caf\u00e9s, but they have also received a few requests from hotels \u2013 for instance to help out with room service orders. \u201cIf any companies on campus are interested, such as the Erasmus Pavilion or In de Smitse, we\u2019ll be happy to talk to them!\u201d says Holman, laughing. \u201cWe hope it will help hotels, restaurants and caf\u00e9s in these extraordinary times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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