Square products used by Pavilion
Coffee shop, bar and restaurant owners know the importance of a great location for building a brand and capitalising on footfall. And when it comes to great locations, it’s hard to imagine a more agreeable setup than Pavilion’s 6 locations, within London’s East End and picturesque Newquay . With great coffee and an eclectic range of foods, from tangy sourdough sandwiches to mouth-watering pastries, the Pavillion cafes are hugely popular with loyal clientele.
However, with this popularity comes a particular set of obligations – a need to be fast and efficient, fluid and agile. It’s also essential that the team maintain the same high standards while always offering something new to repeat customers. We sat down with Pavillion’s Creative Director Rachel to talk about how Square helps this thriving cafe do what it does best.
A system designed to adapt to what you need
Take payments quickly to serve more customers: Pavilion’s prime location and reputation for quality make for a fast-paced environment with a high customer turnover. By using Square register and Square Stand, the team are able to make the checkout process fast, simple and fluid, preventing long queues and helping to maximise revenues.
“We’re a really busy, fast-flowing business”, so I think if we save a few seconds with every transaction, it just means we can serve more customers. So it’s definitely beneficial.”
- Rachel Gale, Creative Director, Pavilion
Change menu items when needed:. One of Pavilion’s greatest selling points is its eclectic menu. Founder Rob Green spent time in Sri Lanka prior to taking over the cafe, and integrates the cuisine he loved in South Asia with traditional cafe classics. Because the menu is seasonal, the team needs to be able to integrate new changes throughout their systems quickly and effectively. That’s where Square comes in. Rachel told us that we found it quick and easy to update tills throughout their system as the menu changed.
“Because the back end of Square is easy to use and update, I can go on and make changes to the tills from the back end and they update automatically. That way we can introduce a new product straight away and it will be on the tills. I can change a price, or do whatever needs to be done and it’s immediate”.
- Rachel Gale, Creative Director, Pavilion
Reflecting personal style: As Pavilion’s creative director, Rachel had specific ideas of how she wanted the cafe’s website to look and feel, incorporating Sri Lankan motifs into a pleasantly minimalist aesthetic. Part of the reason she chose Square was because she felt that Square’s design ethos mirrored her own. Moreover, she felt that our website platform would allow us to create a website that reflected her specific creative vision. “We like to think that Square branding aligns with what we offer,” she told us. “I think we complement one another. And the website platform that you offer works really well for us. Our website is highly image-led and it allows us to have the website that we’ve always wanted.”
Pavilion’s implementation and training journey
LLike many businesses in the service industry, the team at Pavilion could not afford to spend time on lengthy POS training sessions for their staff. Fortunately, Square Register and Square Stand share a simple and intuitive interface that feels like second nature to anyone who uses a smartphone regularly.
As Rachel admitted to us, “I think the Square tills definitely save time for our teams because they’re really user-friendly. It’s saved us time training people because they’re very self-explanatory with the touch screens. They also save the team time every day. Just being able to work through transactions really quickly”.
Square’s impact on business operations
“Our ethos is about celebrating the very best produce and bringing feel-good, quality food to everybody”. For the team at Pavilion, success means delivering a consistently excellent customer experience with an ever-changing roster of delicious foods. What’s more, it requires the team to manage the high levels of customer turnover with aplomb. Let’s take a look at how Square helps Pavilion optimise its business operations.
Customer experience
Square’s POS and hardware are easy for staff to use and help to ensure accuracy in customer orders. Using Square’s reporting tools, the team is able to track which dishes and drinks are popular with customers, so that they can order enough ingredients to ensure that they never run out of customer favourites. All of these factors help ensure Pavilion delivers a consistently excellent experience for its loyal customers.
Fluidity and adaptability
Like the calm, duck-filled waters to which the Victoria Park cafe is adjacent, the Pavilion team’s approach is fluid and constantly shifting. As Rachel explained to us, “The way that Rob has grown Pavilion is to never to be stagnant, always just keep things moving, try things, be fluid, to be adaptable. That’s definitely kind of Pavilion’s motto. I think that’s why it’s got us to where we are today.”
Square’s intuitive inventory management system allows the team to make quick changes to the menu on the fly with new menu items updating instantly on every POS device. This makes it easy for the team to express its signature creativity and create an unforgettable experience that keeps customers coming back.
Expansion and diversification
By keeping operations efficient and creating an experience that keeps customers coming back, the team haS generated the revenues necessary to branch out into new locations and diversify with a growing wholesale base. – helping the team to grow its brand and open exciting new revenue streams.
Square is delighted to play a part in helping the Pavilion Cafe thrive. But what can we do for your business? Get in touch today to see how Square’s suite of business solutions could help your business improve its operational efficiency, boost revenue, increase cash flow and more.
Contact sales
Contact our sales team to learn more about how Square could help your business.