NILA

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant industry was overheated with newer businesses opening-up faster in many cities than diners could keep-up. Among numerous businesses worldwide, the restaurant sector was hit the hardest, rocked by dramatic decline in sales and capital to support day-to-day operations. As countries reopen economies and ease lock-down measures, restaurateurs, in particular, attempt to rejuvenate their businesses and view the pandemic as a silver-lining for the industry to innovate.

Central to successfully managing a restaurant is a POS systems that allow restaurateurs to stay on top and effectively manage their operations, CRM programs and back-office activities. However,due to more than a decade old technology interfaces, restaurants struggle to maintain a reasonable level of operational productivities and order-to-service management targets as well as control food waste. These lead to restaurants being unable to serve complex (and rapidly evolving) needs of highly-diverse demographics of diners, operate with poor profitabilities and constant risk of closures. Suppliers, too, struggle to locate (and onboard) 'new' restaurants cost-effectively and control food waste generated at source.

“A handful solution providers are addressing some of these critical challenges with varied degrees of digital product innovations. However, most of these solutions failed to address critical needs of restaurateurs and are far from adopting artificial intelligence, data science and blockchain technologies.”states Yogesh Gupta, Founder and CEO of NILA. NILA is a highly intelligent Artificial Intelligence driven POS system offering unique new UIs, technology interfaces and functional integrations utilising machine learning, virtual platforms and data science technologies.

Their end-to-end fully integrated AI driven solution creates a meaningful upward shift which will revolutionise the way restaurateurs currently operate their businesses and interact with their diners.

Based in London, the company aims to help restaurants improve their operational efficiencies, workforce productivities and most importantly reduce food waste, both upstream at source as well as downstream in restaurants.

The ultimate value-proposition for NILA solution is, their smart technology integrations crate new additional revenue streams helping restaurateurs drastically improve profitability and business bottom-lines.

NILA seeks to disrupt existing restaurant operating model with their fully integrated three distinct product modules – Diners App, Restaurant Management Software and Digital Supplier Marketplace. The company's free-to-download Diners App delights diners by enhancing user experiences (and interaction patterns) based on specific dietary needs, healthy lifestyles and medical conditions (incl. allergies) through highly interactive UX/UIs. The App further provides unique new features which will enhance diner’s experience, flexibility and convenience factors.

At the heart of NILA's solution is their highly intelligent, cloud-based AI driven POS System. "we want to take the guess-work out and disrupt the existing restaurant operating model," explains Gupta.

While NILA’s significant technology upgrade toimprove operational efficiencies, order-to-service management, kitchen workflow management, employee productivities is crucial to success, their inbuilt real-time data analytics and business intelligence (DABI) module enable restaurants to switch to predictive decision-making modes. The DABI module not only provides crucial insights about diners dietary preferences in real-timebut also, helps restaurants to streamline business activities, manage resources efficiently and optimise inventory (and material) management to reduce food waste.

The machine learning modules enhance accuracy in business intelligence (and analytics), performance (via automation) and predictive decision making. The combination of these two helps restaurants to build new additional revenue streams, generate a range of 'up-selling' menu options based on the diner's profile preferences and drive specific geo-targeted near-field customer value management campaigns.

Another constituent of the NILA POS System, the AI driven Supplier Marketplace which allows restaurants to reduce their ingredient expenditure while maintaining optimum stock-levels in pantry, shorten demand response times and reduce food waste. "Currently restaurants choose their suppliers based on three key criteria – ingredient quality, expertise and speed of delivery. However, peer recommendations or restaurateur experiences do go a long way as deciding factors," elaborates Gupta. The Marketplace also helps suppliers to enhance their revenues by providing opportunities to earn new business from otherwise ‘unfounded’ restaurants.

With past experiences of owning a restaurant himself, Gupta views NILA as a simple yet highly intuitive way to solve critical challenges faced by the restaurant sector. Their next phases of product innovations will further integrate use of Blockchains in Supplier Module and biometrics. "Our innovation cycle is based on Lean start-up principles, we innovate by working closely with our customers (diners, restaurant owners or suppliers)," elucidates Gupta. The company' solution has already been well-received by major clients in Italy and seeking to build further collaborations with restaurants in Europe, India and the USA markets for rapid roll-out in return of appropriate discounted price-plans. The company is also building a strong network of channel partners in India and the USA territories, and inviting interested strategic collaborators from these target markets to express their interests.

With strong switch indications from customers, the market is ready for NILA’s breakthrough POS system which is exclusively designed to deliver more value to users in restaurant value-chain, significantly improve operational efficiencies, labour/workforce productivities, business bottom-lines/profitabilities and most importantly reduce food waste.