Cozymel's new pay-at-table system lets customers watch movie trailers and buy movie tickets as well as swipe their own credit cards.

Considering that the Federal Trade Commission estimates credit-card fraud costs consumers about $2 billion a year, her concern is a valid one. Pay-at-table systems can help cut fraud because credit cards never leave their owners' possession.

Russo reports that guests do, indeed, welcome the security of the device, now offered in a single Cozymel's store in Grapevine, Texas. Nine-unit Cozymel's, however, is reaping benefits from the device above and beyond appreciative customers.

The tabletop device has sped service times, increased sales and cut labor costs—and without too much angst from customers or servers. The test has been so successful that Cozymel's is rolling out the device to its locations in Manhattan Beach, Calif., and Las Vegas later this year.

Russo has high hopes as the device is introduced systemwide. “I think it can help drive sales, definitely, and it can help with turnover in the front of the house,” she says.

The manufacturer of the pay-at-table device, which shares an investor, Dallas-based 2M Companies, with Cozymel's, contacted Russo about a two-part beta test last September. The first part of the test would determine whether customers and servers would cotton to the pay-at-table system. The second part would test the device's ability to market the menu.

The tabletop ordering device lets customers order extra items when they're ready, not when the server happens to drop by.

The manufacturer paid for the pay-at-table equipment, which includes the tabletop devices and a server, as well as monthly service fees. The equipment costs approximately $4,500, and fees run about $8 to $10 per seat, per restaurant, depending on how extensively a restaurant uses the device, according to Shawn Gentry, president of the company that manufactures the equipment. He adds that the server is equipped with WPA-2, or the second-generation Wi-Fi Protection Access, a (to date) hacker-proof security system. “It's what the State Department uses,” Gentry says.

Before launching the test, Cozymel's conducted 500 customer surveys to determine what features the tabletop device would offer. Three hundred of the surveys were on paper; the remaining 200 were personal interviews, during which the interviewer offered customers a free dessert in return for telling the interviewer what features they'd like on the device. Cozymel's also conducted professional focus groups to determine how customers wanted to use the device. Gentry says that pay-at-table was the most-requested feature, followed by the option to split the check, look up movie show times, view movie trailers and content for children, purchase movie tickets, and page the waiter.

At Cozymel's, the first stage of the test revealed several server concerns, among them receipts. Servers were afraid of losing track of a transaction, Russo says. The system was revised to include a receipt printer in the kitchen for servers to keep track of receipts and tips.

The manufacturer initially managed content for Cozymel's and will continue to do so, Gentry says. The $8- to $10-per-seat service charge covers content management, and Gentry says the restaurant will recoup that amount in extra sales and labor savings. “We really focus on three pillars: increase revenue, decrease cost and increase guest satisfaction,” he says.

The device has yielded one surprise after another. To start, it cut table times by six minutes, bringing them to about 35 minutes per table at dinner. Service is faster at lunch, too, by seven minutes. The “why” is easy, Russo explains: Guests don't have to wait for the server to drop the check or pick it up. They simply pay with a credit, debit or gift card, or cash, when they're ready. A red light on the device alerts servers to a cash payment.

Menu items pictured on the tabletop device, from margaritas to guacamole, see a spike in sales, says Cozymel’s President Mary Russo, who adds that the tabletop device supplements, but does not replace, suggestive selling by servers.

Along similar lines, customer participation in surveys is higher as well. Fully 92 percent of customers agree to answer one question (“How would you rate your dining experience?”) when prompted by the tabletop device. “That's a much higher rate than comment cards,” Russo says.

The third unexpected yet welcome benefit: lower labor costs. Because they no longer spend time dropping and fetching checks, servers are now able to take on another table per shift. That means that the store was able to cut a full-time server position, resulting in a 20 percent savings on labor costs. And that means good news for servers, too, in the form of more tips because they can take care of more customers more quickly.

Higher tips will help Cozymel's cut turnover rates for hourly employees, Russo predicts. “The more money someone makes, the longer they'll work for you,” she says.

However, when servers no longer drop or pick up checks, that means less interaction time with customers. It's a valid concern, says Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic Inc., the Chicago-based restaurant consulting and research firm. “There's not as much flexibility” for guests to quiz servers about preparation methods or make special requests, he says.

Still, “a lot of people would rather interact with a POS system than a server,” Tristano adds. Overall, he views pay-at-table options as more positive than negative, both for patrons and operators. The option lets customers order when they're ready, not when the server is ready, and can trim front-of-the-house labor costs.

An unexpected benefit of the tabletop system: Cozymel’s has seen table times quicken by seven minutes at lunch and six minutes at dinner.

Customer reaction, across generations, has been positive, McPhail adds. “They like that they don't have to give up their credit cards, that they don't have to wait for anyone,” he says.

And they appreciate the movie-ticket option, too. “Last week we had a group that wanted to see 'The Dark Knight,'” McPhail says. “They bought the tickets at the table and picked them up at the box office.” The line to buy tickets at the theater, McPhail adds, stretched around the block.

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