Kajaani soldier´s home pizza grill restaurant uses self-service POS solution
The Kajaani soldier´s home of Kainuu Brigade has served conscripts since 1961. By the number of conscripts Kainuu Brigade is one of the biggest units in Finland. The soldier´s home canteen offers many recreational activities. Besides enjoying lunch or delicious doughnuts, the conscripts can play billiards or read in the library. There is a kiosk selling everyday items and the popular pizza grill restaurant offers a variety of savory treats.
The Kajaani soldier´s home and Winpos started their cooperation in 2008. There are 7 Winpos points of sale in Kajaani, placed in the soldier´s home, kiosk, and pizza grill restaurant. At the start of this year a self-service point of sale was installed in the pizza grill restaurant. 11 other soldier´s homes in Finland are also using the Winpos POS system.
The conscripts quickly learned to use the self-service terminal. Accepted payment methods are the usual payment cards and MobilePay, which is widely used by the conscripts
The work at the checkout should be meaningful and the business management easy
The manager of the Kajaani soldier´s home association, Marja-Leena Kivijärvi, has been pleased with the system as well as the cooperation with Winpos. – The POS terminals are equipped with touch screens, and they are easy to use, which is very important considering our volunteers. They work here on average one evening shift a month, which means the POS system must be easy to use for the job to feel meaningful. The price label function (printing barcodes, prices, and shelf labels) is also very handy, and enables us to always display the correct price for the customers.
Kivijärvi tells us, that she monitors the business activities of the soldier´s home daily using the Winpos system. – We view the daily sales and get all annual sales and margin information from the POS system. The margin percent is clearly visible in the pricing of new articles. The sales reports allow us to easily estimate sales of more rarely sold items.
Self-service POS terminal enables quicker service
In January 2021 a self-service POS kiosk was installed in the soldier´s home pizza grill restaurant. – The new self-service solution was welcomed with open arms by our customers as well as the staff. We also have a traditional checkout, but that is rarely used anymore, Kivijärvi says. The advantages of a self-service solution are apparent during these exceptional times, when we have kept safety distances and minimized customer contacts.
– The conscripts quickly learned to use the self-service terminal. Accepted payment methods are the usual payment cards and MobilePay, which is widely used by the conscripts. The customers have been very pleased, Kivijärvi says happily, and continues: – The self-service concept is appreciated by the staff as well.
The orders are directly transferred from the self-service terminal to a kitchen display, either the grill display or the pizza display, depending on the order. When the food is ready, the order is marked on the kitchen display as ready to be picked up, and this information is then sent to a customer display in the restaurant hall.
– The customers haven´t had any problems monitoring the order status on the display. The staff also has a little bell they can ring in case someone doesn´t notice that their food is ready.
The Kajaani soldier´s home recommends the self-service solution to other restaurants as well. – With 13 years of experience we can recommend Winpos and their self-service solution. Especially young customers are very comfortable with making and paying orders using a self-service terminal.
The future holds mobile terminals and a web shop
– Our cooperation continues in the form of both old and new projects. Our next mutual project is implementing mobile payment terminals and the MobilePay payment method in our two shop cars that serve the conscripts out in the terrain, outside the barracks. The mobile payment terminals will accept MobilePay and our own purchasing card. That way we will avoid possible coverage area problems out in the terrain. The idea is, that you can load money on your purchasing card in the soldier´s home, and it will then serve as a payment method in our shop cars if the internet connection isn´t working, Kivijärvi says hopefully.
– We are also working on a web shop. There is a natural role for it during the pandemic, but it could also enable smoother sales when the conscripts are leaving for a camp. We could certainly use a solution of the model ”Order online and pick up your paid order from the soldier´s home without queuing”, Kivijärvi says enthusiastically.
