Industry
Hospitality
Case Study
Retail B2C
The Radh, a luxury boutique hotel in Kandy near the Temple of Tooth, found revenue from their two restaurants; Café Radh and Nihonbashi, taking a nosedive since the lockdown forced people to stay indoors. The public health measures that included curfews, travel restrictions, social distancing measures, and personal protective equipment such as masks and face shields were introduced to combat this highly contagious virus (also deadly in more than random cases) so they couldn’t be blamed at all. But there had to be a way around this problem. As they explored their options, they realized if the customers couldn’t come to their restaurants, they had to go to them or take their products to them. They saw then that the win-win solution was nothing but eCommerce. Soon, it dawned on them that it was high time for them to enact their long-postponed plans to set up an online shop. Necessity, after all, is the mother of invention as the old proverb goes. Their search for a reliable eCommerce Partner spurred them to reconnect with eBEYONDS, the company that had built their website and they were both surprised and delighted to discover that ShopOnCloud (SoC) would cater to their exact requirement. Looking back and connecting the dots, it’s no exaggeration to call it the business equivalent of a match made in the heavens. So well did it turn out to be!
The Radh, Kandy is a luxury boutique hotel that houses two restaurants called Café Radh and Café Nihonbashi. Thus, it falls into the restaurant and takeaway industry or the broader foodservice & hospitality industry. This is one of the industries that bore the brunt of the Covid-19 outbreak. But the restaurant industry was relatively quick to adapt itself to the seismic shift in its business landscape.
The Radh is an iconic luxury boutique hotel with 30 rooms & suites in the Hill Capital Kandy near the most hallowed Temple of Tooth. Located on the premises of The Radh, Café Radh is The Radh’s restaurant that serves an eclectic delectable cuisine. Café Nihonbashi is operated by the famed Japanese restaurant Nihonbashi in Colombo. Both restaurants mainly used to serve the in-house diners including both The Radh’s guests and walk-in diners before the launch of their online shop.
The Radh required a branded online shop for Café Radh and Café Nihonbashi where their patrons and prospective customers could place their takeaway and home delivery orders online. They wanted it to be efficient, reliable, user-friendly, and simple without a tough learning curve both on the front-end for customers and on the backend for their staff who’d process the orders and see to their delivery.
The foodservice and hospitality industry where The Radh belongs is one of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic and the spate of public health regulations it triggered. Also, the meals are perishable products with a very short shelf-life and so they would have to be sold and delivered quickly before they grew cold, flavorless, or worse, stale. The delivery people would have to exercise enough caution to make sure that the food wouldn’t be contaminated or otherwise tampered with. It would require packaging that could withstand the rigors of transportation across the rough terrain. And then they had to confront the possibility of the transmission of the dreadful virus through food packaging or through the food itself if contaminated.
The client faced all the industry challenges described above. Plus, it would have to have a branded online shop and then make sure its patrons and prospective customers would discover it online. They had to find a trustworthy delivery partner and then charge customers for delivery too which sent the price of meals up. Then, they would have to estimate a given day’s demand for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for a while until the online sales grew steady and more predictable.
With a deep understanding of the client’s toughest challenges and gravest concerns, ShopOnCloud got down to the job of crafting a feasible eCommerce solution for Café Radh and Cafe Nihonbashi. The SoC team closely collaborated with the client’s representatives to develop an eCommerce Solution that’d effectively address their requirements. The expertise of the SoC team in the development of practical eCommerce Solutions and the flexibility and versatility of the SoC platform proved instrumental in arriving at the final solution. It didn’t just meet the client’s highest expectations; it beat them and delighted the client.
Hospitality
Health and Beauty
Food and Beverage
