InvestorsHub Logo
Followers 37
Posts 4190
Boards Moderated 0
Alias Born 10/18/2016

Re: None

Friday, 01/13/2017 9:18:15 AM

Friday, January 13, 2017 9:18:15 AM

Post# of 5881
Compensated Awareness Post View Disclaimer
NETE Targets Hospitality and Restaurant Industries with Technology

Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE) is targeting two industries on the cusp of greater revolutionary technology investments: hospitality and restaurants. Net Element’s Unified Payments subsidiary recently entered into an agreement with ReservHotel (http://nnw.fm/bO01f), providing technology-driven payment acceptance services. To the restaurant industry, Net Element offers its Aptito cloud-based point-of-sale system (http://nnw.fm/3wmF1).

The hotel industry had a terrific year in 2016, according to STR (http://nnw.fm/kp3Rd). For the week ended December 31, 2016, year-over-year, the industry had nearly flat occupancy, but the payoff was that its average daily rate (ADR) rose 2.2% to $132.79, and its revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 2.0% to $72.38. Hotels are setting a priority on investing even more in technology to improve profit performance further.

Similarly, the restaurant industry is focusing on technology to launch and then better integrate digital menus with point-of-sale systems. Restaurants are seeking ways to offer more technology to their patrons while also cutting expenses, ensuring more accuracy in billing and improved customer retention.

Net Element’s Aptito is cloud-focused and serves as a solution to the restaurant industry’s point-of-sale issues. It is timed for a fast-growing industry that requires technology to grow more quickly. According to the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the industry did $782.7 billion in sales last year (http://nnw.fm/2Q2yi), but most restaurants are small. The NRA reports that seven out of 10 are single unit operations, making technology even more vital.

In its report, titled ‘Mapping the Restaurant Technology Landscape’ (http://nnw.fm/oI3mK), the NRA finds that, while 81% of restaurants use a point-of-sale or electronic register system and 68% offer Wi-Fi for guests, only 37% of restaurants have online ordering and just 32% offer mobile payments. As a result, 32% say their operations are lagging technology-wise. Just 12% say they have leading-edge technology. Further, 37% of operators say that customer ordering is the most important part of technology development for them over the next five years.

Annika Stensson, director of research communications for the NRA, said four of five restaurant operators believe technology can help make restaurants more productive (http://nnw.fm/g27Ge). However, she added, new technology can also complicate the experience for restaurant customers. “This research highlights the importance that user-friendly, streamlined tech solutions play in creating an innovative restaurant environment and that closing this divide will be a priority for the industry going forward,” Stensson said.

Net Element, Inc., offers Aptito, which is a point-of-sale visual system offering restaurants mobile ordering and digital menus on an iPad app. Additionally, it has a cloud-based mobile app for customers. For restaurants, Net Element also offers an Android-based retail point-of-sale software. The Aptito point-of-sale system allows for seamless integration with the restaurants’ digital menu tablets.

Net Element believes that offering customers a digital menu rather than a paper one will drive more sales, result in fewer mistakes, and cut restaurants’ labor costs. The goal is to achieve more profit, a higher retention rate, customized digital menus, and electronic payment options. The software also allows diners to split checks, merge and move orders, and change tables.

In its latest 10-Q, filed on November 14, 2016, Net Element, reported revenues of $38,963,559 for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, compared to $25,122,250 during the same period of the prior year (http://nnw.fm/Jso65).

For more information, visit www.NetElement.com