A 5 percent or even 10 percent increase in annual sales may not be anything for a business owner to get too excited about, unless you run a restaurant that sells $1 million worth of wine every year. Now, you’re talking another $50,000 to $100,000 a year in new wine sales.
Since The Mooring Seafood Kitchen & Bar on Sayer’s Wharf in Newport put its wine list on iPads, there has been a 5 percent to 10 percent increase in the sale of wine, said Shawn Westhoven, general manager. His experience, recounted after only two weeks’ use of the tablet-like devices, mirrors that of other restaurants across the nation.
The Mooring, celebrating its 30th anniversary May 6, made the decision to take its wine list into the telecommunications age to save resources such as paper, to allow for added accuracy through quick updates and to help their patrons better enjoy the restaurant experience.
The Mooring’s experience with iPads for wine lists makes it likely other Ocean State restaurants will follow its lead.
“The Mooring’s wine list has been rated one of the best 800 wine lists in the world by Wine Spectator Magazine and it is a top priority for us,” Westhoven said. “We update and change our offerings almost daily and, as a result, we were printing hundreds upon hundreds of pages monthly.”
The restaurant carries 750 different kinds of wine, details of which filled a 27-page paper booklet, according to Westhoven. “Wines are constantly changing,” he said, so the booklet required constant revisions. “We were reprinting 500 to 700 sheets of paper each month.” On top of that, “there is nothing more frustrating,” Westhoven said, than for a customer to spend time carefully choosing a wine only to find it is not in stock that day.
Part of the Newport Harbor Corp. and owned by its employees, The Mooring never has had a full-time sommelier, or wine steward, on staff, Westhoven said, so no jobs have been eliminated. A restaurant manager who was in charge of the wine list and its updates remains the wine-list manager, but is now in charge of the iPads. “We don’t want iPads to replace hospitality and experience [of the staff], and I don’t think they ever will,” he said.
To help prevent theft, Westhoven said the iPads are equipped to operate only within the restaurant on its own Wi-Fi system, but he acknowledged such a setup might not discourage thieves adept at computers. The restaurant servers, he added, keep a sharp eye on the iPads, as do managers.
Mooring patrons need not be computer whizzes to operate the iPads, according to Westhoven. He said the touch-screen device is as simple to use as automated teller machines (ATMs) and staff members learned the ins and outs within five minutes. “They are very easy to use,” Westhoven said.
Servers are ready to help patrons navigate the device if needed, he added, and no order can be activated except by a server, so the chance of a customer mistakenly ordering dozens of bottles of wine worth hundreds of dollars is obviated. Prices of bottles of wine at The Mooring run between $20 and $600, Westhoven said.
Regarding increased sales, Westhoven said the iPads seem to have sparked a renewed interest in wine at the restaurant.
The iPads include a special link to “Mooring Favorites,” he said, about 40 wines whose e-descriptions include notes on taste added by staff members who have tested them. Eventually, the number of wines carrying taste notes will be expanded. “The lists provide tasting notes, a way of leading people through their own exploration of wine,” he said. Since iPads entered the house, he said he has seen an increasing number of patrons branching out from white zinfandel or chardonnays – the favorite of novice wine lovers – to more sophisticated varieties.
While The Mooring may be on the cutting edge of Rhode Island trends, iPad wine lists are in use in major food cities of the world, such as London, Sydney, Chicago, New York and Atlanta. According to the Nation’s Restaurant News website (www.nrn.com), restaurateurs in Naples, Fla., New York City and Chicago report increased wine sales with iPad lists.
“The iPad is driving a lot of that increase by giving people information and encouraging them to order more wine,” he told Nation’s Restaurant News.
Dale Venturini, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Hospitality Association, applauded The Mooring for “engaging people to be part of the [dining] experience. Anything we can do to have patrons participate … improves the experience and means that they’ll come back,” she said. “It’s a phenomenal way to re-enforce the restaurant’s brand.”
Winfield Platt, executive vice president of Restaurant Data Concepts in Warwick, home of the touch-screen POSitouch devices used by most restaurants to place and track orders, said he sees more restaurants using tablet-like devices such as iPads, but usually it is for the hostess or manager to organize the flow of diners and assignment of tables. In such cases, the iPads replace a stationary computer terminal, allowing the manager the freedom to move around, he explained.
He wondered if the iPads can withstand constant use by multiple parties, noting that the restaurant business can be “a rather harsh” industry, tough on delicate pieces.
Westhoven said The Mooring’s iPads have screen protectors and are contained within leather covers – like a regular wine list – to protect them. “Guests are excited [by the iPads] and treat them with respect,” he said, adding he’s been more concerned about staff members. Servers, he noted, are busy with other patrons and dozens of duties, so an area has been designated for iPad storage that is easy for servers to access, but not for guests. “We sought input … and the staff came up with a lot of solutions,” he said. •
