DEVELOPING POS SOLUTION
THAT REVOLUTIONIZES HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
In 2014, following a disappointing experience with another development company, the founder of SmartTab turned to MobiDev to take over the development of a premium POS solution tailored for restaurants, nightclubs, and bars. Over the years, MobiDev has helped transform SmartTab into a comprehensive ecosystem, enhanced by AI-powered demand forecasting analytics. Since the start of our collaboration, SmartTab has evolved from an ambitious startup into an industry leader, now serving over 1,000 venues and chains.
Consulting, dedicated development team of 50+ experts
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KEY FACTS:
Country
USA
Industry
HoReCa. Retail
Cooperation period
2014-current
Cooperation type
Consulting, dedicated development team of 50+ experts
WHAT THE CLIENT SAYS
SmartTab is an extremely complex software solution that performs heavy processes from multiple different hardware and software touch points in as close to real-time (within milliseconds) as it gets. Our clients demand high performance and we stand firmly as the most robust and reliable software product in our space. The skilled and competent engineers provided by MobiDev have consistently delivered on my expectations.
I cannot recommend MobiDev enough. I went from 5 engineers to over 50 of them. We have a reputation of having the best tech when compared to companies like Square, Micros (owned by Oracle), and Aloha (owned by NCR). These are all multi-billion dollar companies. And thanks to my team at MobiDev, I’m standing on stable ground in making these very bold claims.
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Since the beginning of our cooperation in 2014, SmartTab has transformed from a bold startup to an industry leader that serves 1,000+ venues and chains. The SmartTab software itself has scaled into a complex, yet user-friendly ecosystem, offering a POS system, a customer app, and an AI analytics system with a demand forecasting model under the hood.
Despite challenges like the crisis in the hospitality sector caused by COVID-19, which led to a 40% decline in bar and nightclub market size in 2020, MobiDev and SmartTab made no pauses in cooperation, step by step improving and growing the product. As a result of our combined efforts, the number of active venues using SmartTab has grown by an impressive 470% over the past four years, further solidifying its position as a leading solution in the hospitality industry.
And the current capacity of SmartTab empowers it to effectively serve a venue of any size. In particular, in November 2023, the SmartTab system served the Block Party that was organized by the Midway SF in San Francisco, California, with 10,000+ guests and tabs. There, 51 SmartTab devices, mainly stations, and standalone iPads, successfully served the high-volume event.
The Story Behind
Working within the nightclub industry since 2010, Daniel Baron not only understood but also experienced the inconveniences of POS solutions of that time. Those systems had cluttered interfaces and a desperately long processing times, which was particularly harmful for high-volume venues. Daniel wanted to change things by creating a “POS that doesn’t suck” a modern solution that ensures process optimization becomes a reliable tool preventing chargebacks, and can both handle the needs of an independent venue and a large venue chain.
After his cooperation with another software development vendor resulted in a pilot version of the app that fell below expectations, Daniel was looking for someone who could start over with the development and would be flexible and experienced enough to operate with a diversified tech stack and create a software product that meets his requirements. That’s where the cooperation between SmartTab and MobiDev started in 2014.
Industry Challenges
When dealing with POS systems in nightclubs and bars, key challenges include supporting high-velocity and high-volume operations and ensuring stable functioning regardless of internet connection quality. According to data from SmartTab clients, a large venue processes 8,000 orders daily, with waiters closing 250 orders per shift. In such a high-intensity environment, any delay incurs both financial costs and risks diminishing clients’ goodwill. A new POS system capable of overcoming these challenges could disrupt the market.
Before diving into development, the MobiDev team created a set of detailed project documentation and recommended the most suitable technologies for the SmartTab system, ensuring high scalability and seamless integration with third-party services related to the payment systems, gift cards, reporting, biometric verification, ID scanning, etc.
2
Enhanced the speed of the POS system
In addressing high-velocity and high-volume operations, MobiDev adopted a comprehensive approach, encompassing both technical and UX aspects. While developers successfully reduced the response delay to a mere 0.03 seconds, UX designers concentrated on minimizing the number of clicks needed while interacting with POS systems.
3
Empowered POS with Extensive Demand Forecasting Capabilities
With the implemented advanced AI-driven forecasting, SmartTab offers 365-day revenue predictions, real-time analysis for custom timeframes, and intelligent detection of sales anomalies. The analytics dashboard was designed to enable fast, data-informed decisions, while detailed product-level insights help optimize inventory and marketing strategies. Learn more from our use case.
4
Enabled continuous operation in offline mode
The MobiDev team implemented offline mode and real-time menu updates. Offline mode facilitates seamless payment capture and processing once the system is back online. Besides that, owners and managers of the venue can instantly make menu adjustments, and update pricing from any device.
5
Implemented checkout flow with a focus on guest identification
MobiDev set up the checkout flow that includes preserving the guest’s identifying information to provide SmartTab clients with reliable evidence in disputes related to unwarranted chargebacks.
6
Keep expanding the systems with new enhancements
The MobiDev team consistently enhances SmartTab, introducing new roles and features. Notably, leveraging data from POS systems, venue owners receive AI-driven demand forecasting insights on their venue management dashboard. Additionally, the iOS and Android apps for guest streamline service by associating credit card data with their account and offering a menu, so that guests can avoid queues and place orders by themselves.
The client's primary request was to create a POS system that supports offline mode and has great integration capabilities with third-party services. We chose Java as the key technology because of its extensive integration opportunities and versatility in adapting to various platforms. The architecture design made it possible to quickly deploy the system at venues and automatically deliver features to certain locations.
