.jpeg)
The Trade: a four-star hotel rich in extravagance and tradition
Situated in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, The Trade, part of the Autograph Collection by Marriott, celebrates the city’s pioneering spirit and is tightly integrated with the busy hospitality cultural hub, the Deer District. The Trade pays homage to Milwaukee’s rich trading and industrial history, offering a unique experience that blends historical reverence with modern luxury.
The dining experience is a major part of the hotel’s operations, with several options ranging from Craft, its main-floor pub, to Solomon’s, its upstairs lounge, as well as in-room dining. With the Fiserv Forum next door, its restaurants are often swamped with guests who come for food and drinks following a Milwaukee Bucks game or a sold-out concert—but with lots of traffic comes the need to have efficient operations.
Facing challenges in ordering and payments before Aloha OrderPay
Alex Shubert, Director of Food and Beverage at The Trade, knew that he and his team would face a large influx of guests after big events at Fiserv. Since its opening in 2023, however, demand after events was higher than projected.
“We saw much higher demand than what we were expecting, which is a phenomenal, phenomenal problem…how do we solve that? How do we execute it?” shared Alex Shubert
Despite planning their staff needs months in advance, the hotel still struggled to meet customer demand. On particularly challenging nights, long wait times resulted in guests walking out. The Trade, more than anything, needed to enable its staff to create exceptional experiences across all restaurant operations no matter what—especially on their busiest nights. Before they opened, The Trade had set the highest standard for crafting the perfect guest experience; if they failed to meet customers’ needs and expectations due to technology limitations after opening their doors, they stood to lose customers and receive bad reviews, both of which would be incredibly damaging to the reputation of a four-star hotel. Although each of the hotel’s restaurants caters to different dining occasions with unique service expectations, there’s one thread across all of them: the need for speedy and efficient service.
“What was important to me was a platform that would go ahead and operate our whole hotel. So not only would it take care of our restaurants, our different outlets that are very unique…but also ties in with our property management system through the hotel.”
Why The Trade Hotel chose Aloha OrderPay by NCR Voyix
Realizing that they needed a solution that helped them serve more guests, The Trade turned to NCR Voyix to elevate their food operations to new heights. This brought them to Aloha OrderPay, a mobile POS solution that allows staff to wield the power of Aloha point of sale with a device that fits in the palm of their hand. With it, staff can take orders and payment with speed and accuracy that gives guests better service—which means more table turns for the restaurant operator. They added four handheld devices for Solomon’s so that they could maximize order taking, expedite table turns and lessen the strain on staff. All with the goal of making the guest experience even better.
“From a business side, you don't have to pay for another POS terminal. That's a great thing to have. You don't have to run another hardline internet somewhere.” –Alex Schubert
How The Trade improved guest experiences with Aloha Order Pay
After seeing success in Solomon’s, The Trade also implemented Aloha OrderPay into their Craft bar to drive greater service on heavy traffic nights. Within the bar environment, bartenders could be faster behind the bar, and servers could be more nimble in the dining room. Because Aloha OrderPay took secure payment, guests didn’t have to wait for servers to run their payment at a fixed terminal, making it easier and quicker to close checks. The Trade was even able to leverage this mobile POS for room service, with staff easily able to accept payments from the guest at the door.
Alex Shubert had this to say about using numerous solutions on the Aloha by NCR Voyix platform: “Aloha gives you the choice to have a one stop shop. One point of contact and one simple resource to go ahead and track your revenue.” –Alex Schubert
The results: more guests, more tables—more revenue
“[Our sales rep] said, ‘This is going to be a game changer for your business and something that will elevate you guys.’ It's been working fantastic.” –Alex Schubert
Once the staff started using Aloha OrderPay, The Trade was able to better manage and serve the influx of post-event guests and business boomed. Now, they can:
- Serve more guests - The Trade has seen a 50% reduction in loss of revenue due to walkouts. Guests are served faster, so they don’t have to wait too long or leave for a different restaurant. It also means that servers go home with more tips.
- Turn more tables - With mobile point of sale devices, and faster payment processing, the speed of service also increased. During events, The Trade can serve more customers a night—about 50 more—which results in a 30% increase in table turns. This increase in table turns translates into revenue that the hotel previously couldn’t capture because the demand was too high, but now they can through Aloha OrderPay.
- Optimize their staff - The power unlocked from a mobile point of sale means that they don’t need as much staff on any given day. In fact, there was a 10% reduction in their staffing each day since incorporating the handheld POS into their service. Aloha OrderPay softens the strain of labor shortages, so the hotel can stay profitable and help the staff create better restaurant experiences for their patrons.
Aloha OrderPay helped The Trade bring even more exquisite service—serving more customers, faster—and more revenue. To learn more about what Aloha OrderPay can do for your restaurant, schedule a demo with us.
