Deep Blue, the largest fish & chips chain in the UK, was struggling with the complexity of managing digital ordering, EPOS, kitchen management and third-party delivery platforms with separate providers. Now? All this runs with the Vita Mojo Order Management System.
Made up of Deep Blue, Harry Ramsden’s and 149 Fish & Chips, Deep Blue Restaurants is the largest fish & chips chain in the UK.
Looking for an opportunity to speed up service and double throughput, Deep Blue initially met with Vita Mojo to explore introducing Kiosks in some of its busiest sites. Deep Blue was impressed with the simplicity of the system and the menu management functionality. The team quickly recognised that there were huge inefficiencies in their operations – beyond simply digital ordering.
It would take the Deep Blue team upwards of three weeks to make menu updates because changes needed to be made across all their different platforms. The brand had two people working on menu updates alone. As well as time being wasted, there was a huge margin for error and often mistakes made.
Deep Blue found that managing its delivery platforms was also a real mission. Using Deliveroo, UberEats and Just Eat meant that there was a tablet and printer for each aggregator. When an order came in it would need to be printed, taken to the till, manually input to the POS, printed again and taken to the fryer.
“It was manic. We used to have a huge variance of what Deliveroo said we’d made vs what the till said because the team would easily miss off a drink or a side when keying orders into the POS. Now with Vita Mojo, orders are auto-accepted and go straight to the kitchen. It saves time, with less manual input and far less human error.” David Ellison – Chief Operating Officer, Deep Blue Restaurants
Deep Blue went from managing its Digital Ordering, EPOS, Kitchen Management and third-party delivery platforms with separate providers to running it all on one platform with Vita Mojo’s Order Management System.
“We had a fragmented tech stack where everything was disjointed and separate. We had different providers for our EPOS and digital ordering, and all our delivery partners on top of this it was impossible to manage and update our channels quickly. We didn’t think there was a solution for this but Vita Mojo’s Order Management System has helped us simplify our processes massively.” David Ellison – Chief Operating Officer, Deep Blue Restaurants
Deep Blue’s marketing team used to spend upwards of 3 weeks manually updating menus across every channel. Now, menu items, images and pricing can be changed instantly through just one system so Deep Blue’s menus are up-to-date and consistent across every channel.
Since introducing digital ordering, Deep Blue has seen a 30% uplift in ATV when guests order through a Kiosk or Mobile Order & Pay vs. the till. In one of its busiest sites in Bournemouth, 50% of sales go through kiosks, making a big difference in throughput and revenue during peak hours.
Managing multiple tablets from delivery aggregators was a nightmare and the Deep Blue team often forgot to turn them on during busy periods. Which is essentially like having its restaurant doors locked because its sites weren’t open online (one of the worst feelings for any operator). Integrating all its delivery partners with Vita Mojo, meant Deep Blue’s open rate went from 80% (equivalent to losing a day of sales) to 100%!
At sites with kiosks, Deep Blue's till staff are able to be redeployed to the kitchen to pack and fulfil the restaurant's significantly increased orders. Increasing the speed and quality of service and resulting in happier guests.
With their previously fragmented tech stack, the team at Deep Blue were sinking hours into collating and analysing complex sales data from multiple points.
“Our previous supplier were unable to produce any usable report without manually exporting and pushing that data into other systems. The amount of checks and balances we had to go through were ridiculous, it was incredibly painful.” – Craig Harris, Key Projects & Business Integration Manager, Deep Blue.
As part of the Vita Mojo Order Management System, Deep Blue can now access 100% of sales data in a single place, with live data reflected in tailored, easy-to-read reports.
“Vita Mojo Analytics gives automated insights into your business performance. The performance metrics are so varied in content; you can report on anything, at any frequency, and schedule that to be sent out. It’s minimal input, and it’s data based on what industry experts feel provides the best context for restaurants, why wouldn’t you want it?” – Craig Harris, Key Projects & Business Integration Manager, Deep Blue.
The results speak for themselves
Deep Blue can now run all its channels and delivery platforms from one place and has a level of data like never before. The business can see its transactions per minute or average spend per day and can easily compare performance between sites and brands to fuel strategic decisions.
By the time it took Deep Blue to update all its menus, another customer could have ordered an out of stock item leaving the brand with unhappy guests and extra work. Now with Vita Mojo, all menus are updated across every channel in one go. So Deep Blue's delivery customers are kept in the loop so much quicker.
In high traffic sites like Brighton and Bournemouth guests are usually keen to enjoy the area and a day out at the beach. Digital ordering has made the customer journey more efficient and customers are happy to get out and make the most of the day after their meal.
