When tablet like ipad come into market. One of the catalyst was it Apps store. But one industry it change is F&B business.

Among the company's clientele for it tranditional POS system in China are Bread Talk Group, Ganso Group, Qing Feng Bao Zi Pu Group, Yong He King ( part of JollibeeGroup), Xiabu-Xiabu and DG.
In Malaysia, Cuscapi's clients in traditional POS system, among others, are KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Papa Rich, Sushi King, A&W and TGI Fridays.
The company's sales in China, for example, had grown from RM300,000 in 2008 to RM9.2mil last year. Out of the RM9.2mil, about 80% was derived from our point of sale (POS) system which is comparatively an older product compared with its new manage services offerings such as the Call Centre Delivery services and F&B Interactive Tablet Solutions like REV
REV, among others, enables restaurant diners to view an electronic menu and submit orders with minimal intervention. Its chief executive officer Her Chor Siong tells Digital News Asia (DNA) that the tablet represents the F&B solution provider’s attempt to move from the backend of the F&B business to the customer-facing front-end, where it will replace the print menu with a digital one.
But beyond being just a digital menu, REV will have various interactive features and will be connected to the Point-of-Sale (POS) and Kitchen Display System (KDS).
A customised tablet Cuscapi has spent 18 months developing will help transform it into a long-term recurring-income business, instead of its current software/hardware sales model.
Her said there are competitors, especially the likes of US-based Micros and NCR but their F&B businesses in Asia were small compared to Cuscapi. "This gives us a better position to capitalise the F&B segment as our niche is in Asia,'' he noted.
In August,2013, Digital News Asia (DNA) had interviewed Her who spoke about getting REV tablets into around 40% of the 8,000 table service outlets that Cuscapi is managing. Table service restaurants are mid-tier restaurants.
Developed inhouse with an R&D cost of US$1.23 million (RM4 million), the Android-based software was built by its 90-man software team in Suzhou with hardware design and product roadmap done out of Kuala Lumpur. The company worked with a Chinese manufacturer in Shenzhen to come up with the hardware specs and manufacturing.
Because Cuscapi wanted to integrate REV to other software systems used in F&B outlets it picked the Open Source based Android, and rooted the whole system to have control at the kernel level and not just at the app level.

The REV tablet comes with various interactive features which are expected to result in cost savings and increased revenue for F&B outlets. The tablet is expected to provide customers with an easy method of ordering and help to drive loyalty programmes and other cross-selling initiatives more effectively.
Behind the development of the tablet lies Cuscapi’s deep knowledge of the F&B business, which contributes 90% of its revenue. That knowledge of how restaurants work, coupled with the realisation that restaurants still do not know who their customers are and have poor loyalty programmes, led to the development of REV as the solution.
“They are still stuck in the brick-and-mortar world,” says Her.
But what about all those apps being developed to help merchants cultivate a closer relationship with their customers? Her is dismissive. “All those customer loyalty apps are half-baked.”
“Currently, we are doing a pilot deployment of our REV tablets in a number of F&B outlets in the region. In Malaysia, we have already rolled out REV to a Western F&B outlet and are working on another large F&B outlet in Kuala Lumpur,” Her said.
“We are also working on potential REV rollouts for our customers in Singapore and China, which will be followed by deployments in other Asean countries such as Thailand and the Philippines in early 2014.
Competitive landscape
From a trial done at a single western restaurant, using an Android tablet, Cuscapi claims that REV offers F&B outlets a hattrick of benefits.
The first is around cost. With around 30% of a waiter’s time taken up by order taking, a pilot showed that this can be taken away leaving the waiters to do more important tasks. Or, an outlet can choose to reduce its headcount. Her says this can save each outlet 25% in labour costs.
Second, the pilot showed that REV actually helped the restaurant increase the bill per table versus other tables at the restaurant that did not have REV. He attributes this to the fact that REV can be programmed to suggest diners make certain orders, for example a salad at a 30% discount, to go with a meat dish ordered.
“With so many of the waiters at mid-tier restaurants being non-Malaysians, the ability to upsell to customers is already being lost. We feel REV can address this,” he says.
Third and most important, Her believes that REV actually helps to give customers a better dining experience, which then leads to them coming back – which in turn means repeat business.
Elaborating on this, he says that REV lets customers know how long their food will take to be prepared and also gives them a chance to offer feedback to the restaurant after their meals. “Gen Y especially will appreciate this, as they want to be empowered with information.”
Competitors
Her said there are competitors, especially the likes of US-based Micros and NCR but their F&B businesses in Asia were small compared to Cuscapi. "This gives us a better position to capitalise the F&B segment as our niche is in Asia,'' he noted.He does not regard the Sakae Sushi chain of restaurants and Room Service Deliveries as competitors despite their use of the same technology as “they are doing very different things”.
Her says there is a startup in the United States that has something similar called E la Carte. “But their solution is focused on the US market and it is not at the level which we are offering ours, which is fully integrated with the operations of the F&B outlet,” he claims. His bigger worry is about deep-pocketed non-traditional players such as Taobao of China, which recently started offering to help restaurants offer their menus online so that diners can pre-order and pay for their food before coming to the restaurant. That’s probably just a start. But Cuscapi has more than a head-start and leveraging on its existing customer base of thousands of F&B outlets, including the likes of McDonald’s
It seem competition is far more severe than describe by it CEO. A quick search on Google can show many similar Apps come out. the only different is those Apps are develop by small startup cater for SME rather than chain restaurant. And small startup do not have existing customer list like Cuscupi. Thus, it depend on pricing and execution.
Third Quarter loss
On 22 Nov, 2013, CIMB Equities Research described Cuscapi’s 9M13 loss as a disappointment as it had earlier expected RM8.1mil net profit for FY13.
Cuscapi posted net losses of RM1.83mil in 9M13 while for Q3, net losses were RM2.79mil.
“We cut our 2013 EPS but maintain 2014/15 numbers as REV should start to contribute from 2014
“The premium we apply over our market target is supported by our 34.7% 3-year EPS CAGR forecast for Cuscapi,” it said, as it maintained the target price of 70 sen, which is 68% over the current price of 42 sen.
CIMB Research said the stronger-than-expected demand for REV and potential M&As are catalysts that support its unchanged Outperform rating.
Cuscapi’s 9M13 revenue was down 22% on-year mainly due to delays in the implementation of some major jobs. Coupled with higher operating expenses from REV, 9M13 recorded a disappointing RM1.8mil loss.
It said on a more positive note, the delayed major jobs should flow through in 1H14. No interim dividend was declared, in line with its expectations.
“We understand two F&B customers in the Klang Valley and one in Singapore have already started using REV. The company is also working with a few major F&B players in China, and if all goes well, the company could see major REV orders from this country over the next few months.
“We forecast the company achieving about 3,000 REV subscriptions in 2014, rising to 10,000 in 2015. Our forecast for REV is conservative.
“Cuscapi’s balance sheet remains strong with its RM29.6mil in net cash or 7 sen net cash per share. The cash was raised from a rights issue in May 2013, mainly for M&A purposes in the region,” it said.
Mr Her Chor Siong is Ernst and Young 2013 Entrepreneur Of The Year Malaysia Top Nominees for Technology Entrepreneur category
Update : Cuscapi sees higher revenue with new tablet to boost sales by 30%
No comments:
Post a Comment