Every hardware have a software as a catalyst for hardware sales. In mainframe, it is Accounting software, In mini computer, it is word processing software. When Apple Computer invented Micro computer, or now call Personal computer or PC, sales growth was not good initially. However, when a spreadsheet (First generation Visicale, now Excel ) come into market. It create a demand for Apple 2 Computer. Another spreadsheet special for IBM PC Lotus 1-2-3 make IBM PC an industry standard for pc. Later, Adobe Postscript also created a demand for Macintosh.
When tablet like ipad come into market. One of the catalyst was it Apps store. But one industry it change is F&B business.
Cuscupi Berhad, a leading POS system for F&B industry in Malaysia, have developed a tablet software for F&B industry call REV for Revenue.
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.
“As a developer, we knew it was important to have full control over how the hardware and software behaved,” says Her
(pic).
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%
客凯易 REV平板电脑自助点餐系统
客凯易的业务是软件开发、销售点服务、商业管理解决方案、系统融合服务、传呼中心传递以及外包合约服务中心。其他收入来自金融机构和汽车业的网络解决方案。
客凯易于2004年7月上市创业板，目前它已转至主板交易。该公司在餐饮业、零售业、酒店业、电讯业、金融服务以及汽车业，已建立了声誉。餐饮是主要收入来源，占营收的约90%。
客凯易在东南亚和中国拥有9个直接办公室，其中5个是于2011年创立。它与21个伙伴合作，为29个国家的7000个安装地点，提供服务和基本建设服务，该公司也在亚洲和中东地区，为超过2万家餐饮业提供服务。
手握多名大客户
客凯易的餐饮商业管理解决方案———Transight，是它的主要收入来源。
Transight专门为小型和大型餐饮业者而设计，不过它的大部份客户是大型餐饮业者，分店数目超过50家。
Transight可以完全符合餐饮业者的需求，它拥有五个综合特点：1.销售点2.经理3.总部4.中央化传呼中心5.企业客户忠诚管理
它的一些客户包括跨国公司以及亚洲和当地餐饮业者。马来西亚的跨国客户，包括麦当劳、肯德基和PIZZA HUT，而本地客户包括Chicken Rice Shop、Pappa Rich和寿司金。
亚洲和中国的大客户，包括Jollibee,Breadtalk、Xiabu-Xiabu、YongHe King、Ganso、Yummy Curry和Overseas Dragon。
大马是最大市场
马来西亚目前是客凯易的最大市场。
管理层自2006年便开始拓展海外市场，在2012年，客凯易约40%收入来自东协（21%）以及中国（16%）。
2012年，中国贡献930万令吉营收，较2009年的140万令吉大幅增长。
管理层对中国展望乐观，以及预料中国的贡献，将在3年内超过马来西亚。
菲律宾展望良好
菲律宾在未来几年的表现也备受看好。截至2012年底，该公司已经以630万令吉，收购Tills N Labels System Marketing Inc。
并购陆续有来？
继收购Tills N Labels System Marketing Inc之后，预料客凯易可能会收购更多公司刺激公司成长。
融资应该不是问题，因为该公司在最近完成附加股之后，拥有超过3200万令吉现金。
REV平板电脑自助点餐系统
客凯易从销售软件或硬件以及年度维修费中获得收入。
不过，管理层正朝向获得经常收入的方向前进，而这可能就是客凯易推出的新产品-REV。
REV就是答案？在经过超过2年的开发之后，客凯易终于2013年下半年推出REV。
REV平板是一个由该公司研发的互动平板，生产交由中国公司负责生产。
该公司是于2012年完成研发，目前管理层正提供给一些主要客户测试。
由于商业平台越来越受欢迎，加上餐馆面对劳工短缺的问题，因此，相信客凯易今年推出这产品是合时宜的。
客凯易相信这产品有许多优势，这包括减少职员流动率、降低职员训练成本、保持服务水平、可以进行有目的的促销、与客户沟通。
管理层经验丰富
客凯易的主要优势，是拥有经验丰富的管理层，以及该公司在亚洲是最大的餐饮解决方案提供者，它获得很强的网络支援。
中国在未来几年提供最佳成长前景。
它的资产负债表非常健全，并且拥有3900万令吉的净现金。
大部份客凯易的客户，是由直接的办事处支援。
区域竞争强烈
Pointsoft、Infrasys和Raptor是客凯易的一些区域竞争者，不过，联昌国际投行研究相信，客凯易的产品以及服务就算没有比这些竞争更好，至少也可以与它们一较高下。
“目前，我们正数家餐厅进行REV的试点部署。在大马，已有数家餐厅试用REV。”
此外，数家来自新加坡和中国的客户或即将试用上述系统。
“一旦试点部署顺利在今年秒完成，公司将计划在2014年初，将REV推广至东协国家如泰国和菲律宾。”
REV平板电脑是针对饮食领域设计的自助点餐系统，有助节省成本和提高盈利。
估值不昂贵
客凯易的每股盈利增长展望，是在没有并购的情况下，取得37.2%的3年复合平均每股盈利增长率。
如果它进行更多并购，那么，它的盈利增长率可能会令人感到惊艳。它的股价对账面价值，也是同侪当中最低的。
本益比方面，它是于2014财年13倍水平交易，较MYEG服务（MYEG，0138，主板贸服股）的20.5倍和就业坊（JOBST，0058，主板贸服股）的18.5倍还低。
REV平板电脑自助点餐系统明年有贡献
客凯易（CUSCAPI，0051，主板科技股）2013财年首9个月蒙受亏损，业绩表现逊于市场预测，从去年475万6000盈利，转为183万2000令吉亏损。
一些主要项目延迟落实，以及饮食业互动平板电脑解决方案———REV营运费用走高，拖累客凯易陷入亏损。
联昌国际投行研究 建议
我们下调2013财年每股盈利预测，但仍维持未来2年看法，我们相信REV在2014年起将带来贡献。
目前，客凯易生意模式是脱售软件或硬件，每年营收10至15%为维修费用。管理层因而要迈向长期持续性收入模式，因而投入REV。
为此，客凯易需在今年承担REV带来更高的营运费用，该业务在今年第三季起开始带来贡献。据了解，REV已在国内和新加坡已有3名客户，公司也正和中国饮食界数个客户进行接触。
我们预计，REV的用户能在2014年取得3000个，2015年为1万，这属于较为保守的预测。
REV的需求相信会比预期高，加上该公司5月发股融资以进行献购，是扶持我们给予该股“超越大市”原因。
余曹祥是
2013年马来西亚年度安永企业家奖科技企业家奖组别入围
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