Smash: “bowled over” by Lolly

About Smash
Situated in East London, Smash offers high quality traditional and Halal burgers. The meat is sourced locally, and the quality of the food, as well as the service, is at the heart of everything that they do. Their mission is to give customers a unique experience, the option to eat “on the go” food in a comfortable restaurant, in addition to delivery and takeaway.

‍Preparing to open for the first time
‍Shaz Islam and his business partner started to set up Smash before Covid-19 hit in February 2020, but when lockdown was introduced only a month after, they decided that nothing would stop them going ahead with creating their dream burger restaurant.

The money was invested and the plans had started. They wanted their customers to have a fresh and clean environment, but also a sleek and prompt service, so that’s where Lolly came in. Shaz commented: "I wanted to get some great tech in place to ensure that we could provide a very professional service. I also had no previous experience in hospitality, so it needed to be easy and very efficient".  

"I did look for a PoS company for quite a while with no joy, nowhere seemed to offer what I needed, and it was important to find a company that could advise us on the best approach to take – to ensure quality service at every touch point. “An online search led me to finding Lolly. From the first call, they have been so helpful and have known exactly what we needed. Their knowledge has filled me with confidence."

‍Getting the ‘big launch’ right with Its Lolly
‍Lolly knew exactly what technology Smash needed to ensure that their customers would experience the best digital journey. Lolly implemented their Lolly ProServe, self-serve kiosk and also provided the UberEats seamless integration to ensure that customers were able to order whenever they wanted, and with ease. The Lolly ProServe provides cutting-edge technology for superior engagement and makes it easy for customers to order independently.

Shaz explains that it is brilliant knowing that orders are coming in when he isn’t physically taking them, adding: “Knowing that the orders come in from these products and they will go straight on to the video screens in the kitchen makes everything so efficient.” The Lolly Kitchen Screens are digital touchscreens which replace traditional kitchen printers and paper ticket systems. The screen acts as the communication link between the front of house and kitchen staff, displaying the orders that have been placed and the time of entry. Online orders are also sent directly to the Kitchen Screens. Once an order has been fulfilled, a simple click ‘complete order’ will clear the order out of the queue and close out the ticket.

The Lolly Edge manned PoS unit was also installed at Smash. An exclusive product to Lolly in the UK, it is a sleek, smart touch screen till, which includes a printer and a rear-facing customer display.  Shaz says: “The till is so easy to use and it provides so much useful information”

‍The big opening
‍It was six months on from being handed the keys to the Smash premises, and at last - now out of lockdown - it was time to officially open and launch the unique burger restaurant. They had no idea what to expect on opening for the first time. Shaz said: “It was so busy at the launch. People had come out of lockdown and food was something to look forward to. We would not have been able to keep up with the huge amount of orders coming through if it hadn’t been for Lolly. At one point, we had thirty orders coming in at the same time, and the fantastic systems in place enabled the communication with the kitchen to flow perfectly. We were able to fulfil every order and live up to our mission.”

‍Lolly products do the thinking for you
‍Keeping an eye on the business from a commercial point of view is vital for Smash and they like to be as proactive as they can. Shaz explains that the amount of information and data Lolly back-office holds is amazing, adding: “It really helps you to keep control of the operational side of the business, giving you an in-depth analysis of orders placed and where stock needs to be replenished."

“I can run the business from home if I want to, I can get the stats that I need, anytime, anywhere. The Lolly HQ dashboard tells me when the peak times are, so I know what to expect. Lolly has taken our business on a true digital journey, and I would not be without it.”