Armagh Testimonials

Catapult POS Delivers Everything Multi-Unit Health Food Retailer Wanted and More. Management at the Gentle Rain of Stratford and Green Valley Health & Herbs in Elmira spent a year researching and interviewing POS providers before shifting from cash registers to the Armagh POS Solutions Catapult retail POS system.

Armagh POS Solutions replaces old box cash registers with Digital Dining Restaurant POS at Hutch’s on the Beach. Better inventory control based on actual sales and a significant reduction in ordering errors are early wins for the 40+ year old restaurant icon.

Catapult meets the unique demands of Duty Free shops with minimal customization When management at the Blue Water Bridge Duty Free Shop in Sarnia, Ontario began its search for a new Duty Free POS system two years ago, it held little hope of finding an ‘out-of-the-box’ solution. Special Projects Consultant Peter Brain says the company believed it would need a customized POS system to meet the specialized demands of a duty-free shop. “The duty-free business is a unique entity with very specific requirements,” Peter explains. “We were surprised to learn that the Catapult system could do more than 90 percent of what we needed right out of the box.” Peter says the store had outgrown its previous POS system, and began looking at a number of POS systems in 2015. “Some of the systems we looked at could do the job, but they seemed complex. It felt like it would take us five years to learn how to use it properly. We began looking at the Catapult solution for two reasons – it had great online reviews, and it had good representation in our area with Armagh POS.” Blue Water Duty Free owner Gerry Lee says he immediately saw the benefits Catapult could bring to the business. “What really attracted me was that it was a real-time system, and it had a much friendlier interface on both the back office and front cash systems. “But as we dove into it I realized it had a lot more features, such as loyalty programs, discount and promotional features that we had never had before. The deeper we went, Catapult just kept getting better and better.” Peter says Armagh pointed out key features, “showing us the system could be configured to handle tour buses, setting up and paying out commissions to drivers and tour escorts. It could also handle the tax rebates for product going into the U.S. as well as some of our other rather unique demands.” The Lee family has owned and operated the Blue Water Bridge Duty Free Shop since 1987, moving into its current 30,000-square-foot facility in 2001. The company had been through two previous POS systems, and wanted something that would help drive the business forward. Speed was important, adds Peter, because the store experiences frequent high-volume surges during which four or five tour buses can roll up to the doors in addition to regular traffic. “The touch-screen interface on the POS terminals is so easy to use, our staff loved it right away. The integrated credit/debit card payment system makes it so much faster to process that we were able to decrease our staffing at the front end, putting those people back on the floor to concentrate more on selling.” Peter and Gerry say customers and staff love the new system, noting the first year of using Catapult has proven that it can help increase business with its speed and powerful analytical reporting tools. “It will help our business grow on two levels. First of all there is the comfort in knowing the system is bullet proof. We haven’t had a single problem with Catapult since we launched it over a year ago. One of the fears in moving to any new POS system is not having someone to call when you have questions. We have found Armagh tremendously responsive. They worked 24/7 in helping us move over to our new system. And I know that if I call for help, they answer and they answer quickly.” The second driving force for business growth is Catapult’s powerful reporting and analysis tools. “Catapult’s new Briefcase reporting program is proving to be an excellent tool for extracting the information we need in a very simple drag and drop way for a meaningful analysis of our business,” says Peter. The simple Briefcase user interface, combined with its powerful OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) Data Cube, is designed to empower retail executives and analysts with the ability to quickly view and compare key data metrics within their retail enterprise including: daily sales, hourly statistics, customer activity, items on-hand snap shots, and promotions. “I would recommend Catapult and Armagh without hesitation for any duty-free operator wanting a system that will deliver,” adds Peter. The Blue Water experience has paved the way for Armagh to install Catapult at other duty-free shops. Bonnie Gates, Marketing Manager at the Peace Bridge Duty Free in Fort Erie, says Catapult has enabled her store to handle increasing volumes of tour buses with ease. “Our new POS system has dramatically increased our ability to handle bus traffic. On a typical Friday, we have a lot of tour buses stopping at this location. The lines can look long, but people soon realize we are moving people through very quickly thanks to Catapult.”

Busy seasonal Greek restaurant owners say Opa! to handhelds and wireless pay-at-table technology The timing was perfect – wireless pay-at-table technology and the need for speed came together just in time for the busy 2016 summer season at Barangas on the Beach in Hamilton. Owner Alex Tsangarakis, who opened the popular Greek restaurant in a former school house on the shores of Lake Ontario 25 years ago, had been successfully using the Digital Dining POS system since connecting with Armagh POS Solutions eight years earlier. “I had been wanting to add the integrated pay-at-table capability for a while, but the technology wasn’t quite there (to meet the needs of the restaurant’s expansive indoor and outdoor environment),” explains Alex. “Armagh called me in 2015 to say the technology was now available, and we should talk.” That discussion lead to changes that took speed of service, payments and table turns to a level Alex had never imagined. His team of 45 servers are now equipped with iPad Mini ordering handhelds that are connected to pay-at-table devices, creating seamless table service that is faster than ever before. “We are open from spring to fall, and during that time we serve up to 100,000 customers,” says Alex, noting the restaurant has large indoor and outdoor sitting areas, a lounge, and a popular outdoor dance and party area that is packed on summer evenings. “It is a challenging environment. Digital Dining is a very good system, it is strong and doesn’t allow for mistakes to be made. Adding the iPads and pay-at-table technology makes it even better. Our staff love it, we love it and so do our customers.” One concern had been about possible damage to the iPad Minis from being dropped during busy rush times, notes Alex, adding the devices come with protective cases that proved indestructible during the first season. Servers also like that the iPads easily store in waist pouches when not in use. “Armagh are the experts when it comes to POS,” adds Alex. “I’d recommend them to anyone in the restaurant business.” Click here to download the PDF version.

Bean Bar’s Handheld POS Dazzles Customers with Magical Service Drinks arriving at the table before their server has left seems like magic for many customers at the Bean Bar, a ‘lifestyle’ restaurant that has grown in popularity with customers of all ages in Hamilton Ontario’s Westdale Village over the past two decades. A recent upgrade to Digital Dining handheld POS is responsible for increased order accuracy, higher sales, and better table turns at this trendy restaurant. “The fact you can send in drink orders while you are still interacting with the customers is pretty amazing,” Assistant General Manager Dianna Salvo says of the introduction of Apple iPad Mini’s running the Digital Dining handheld POS software as well as interfaced pay-at-table devices. “It’s more about the service now. Rather than running away to a fixed point-of-sale station to punch in the orders, servers are able to spend time with their customers. A “runner” can bring drinks out while we’re still using the POS handheld at the table to take food orders. Customers will say, ‘How’d you do that?’ Everyone loves it – it’s fun, it’s interactive and it’s very fast. You can’t beat that.” It’s the biggest leap the restaurant has made since switching over to the Digital Dining POS solution eight years ago, says co-owner Robert Wilton, a former chef who has taken the restaurant from a ‘coffee and dessert’ shop to a full-blown eatery that is often packed with a mix of students, faculty and staff from nearby colleges, schools and McMaster University. “When we switched to Digital Dining, we never looked back,” adds Robert. “The service with Armagh POS Solutions is solid. I know I can count on them, so that takes away the worry of making a major change like this.” Robert says the use of handheld POS with Digital Dining has also helped his kitchen staff. “They see less of the order stacking with five of six orders building up and then shooting through in a spurt. The chit machines now runs with a more constant flow instead of that bang, big rush, followed by a lull and another big rush.” Diana says the flow of the restaurant has also improved dramatically as a result. “Our restaurant is configured in a long, narrow space so there used to a lot of congestion around where the POS terminals used to be. It makes it easier to get food and drinks out to the tables more quickly because you don’t have servers and customers stacked up in the middle.”Bean Bar Restaurant Store Front “We help great properties like Bean Bar make the magic happen,” said Harry Mitchell, Account Manager at Armagh POS Solutions. “Many restaurants have attempted to master “table-side” handheld POS and failed. The mystery behind the magic is Armagh. We’ve installed more handheld POS, longer, and more successfully than anyone else. We know the secrets to making it work.” When asked if he was willing to share those secrets, Mitchell replied, “Call me for a Digital Dining handheld POS demonstration and I’d be happy to.” Click here to download a copy of the Digital Dining Handheld POS Testimonial – Bean Bar Restaurant in PDF format.

Armagh Helps Ontario Company Deliver ‘Lunchrooms of the Future’ Loyalty Markets ‘lunchroom of the future’ got a huge push forward after founder Richard Zinck remembered Armagh POS Solutions had solved his lunch-truck sales control issues more than a decade earlier. Richard had since evolved his business from lunch trucks to modern self-serve food marts that were transforming lunchrooms at a number of Ontario workplaces. Almost immediately the complaints began pouring in about issues with the self-serve point-of-sale system. “I was getting more than 300 emails a day,” says Richard, noting problems included people not getting credit for payments, and overcharges including $6,000 for a sandwich that was allocated to a company president’s payroll account. “We were getting ready to launch a new lunchroom program for Canadian Tire in Mississauga, and I didn’t want the same problems. Then I remembered Armagh, and asked them to have a look.” Armagh recommended its Catapult Flex Market Kiosk Solution with an animated self-service check-out software that makes it easy for employees and customers to purchase the wide range of products provided by Loyalty Markets. “The Catapult system is fast, has a friendly interface with voice interaction, and customers like using it,” says Larry Wolfe, Armagh’s retail specialist who has been delivering POS solutions to leading retailers for more than 26 years. “For companies like Loyalty Markets, it delivers the back office reporting they need to manage sales in a fast-paced and ever-changing environment. It tells them which products are popular, and which ones aren’t which makes it easier to stock properly.” The system allows a number of payment methods once employees are registered, including the convenience of payroll deduction. Once fully deployed, Catapult will even enable automatic ordering to ensure self-serve shelves are always stocked. For Richard Zinck, the solution means he can continue growing the business. “We have 30 more installations waiting to go, but I didn’t have the confidence to move forward without the solution that Armagh has delivered,” he adds. “It was amazing. They came in, installed the system and it worked. Catapult is night and day compared to other systems out there – it just works!” You may download the pdf version of the City Market Self-Service Kiosk Testimonial here.