On Monday 10 August, Chef Online Smart Restaurant Solutions, an online ordering service provider was announced at Crowne Plaza London Docklands to a guest list of media, restaurateurs and key figures from the UK hospitality industry.
Hosted by LBC presenter, Lisa Aziz, the evening marked the first formal event to unveil online ordering plaftorm, Chef Online Smart Restaurant Solutions, which is set to play a pivotal role in transforming the way restaurants and takeaways across the country run their businesses, in line with the online/ digital era. The launch was presented by Chef Online Managing Director, M A Munim Salik; Chef Online Chairman and Chair of Amber Group, Showkat Aziz Russell; Chef Online Co-Director, Hafizur Rahman Rimon; and Chef Online Marketing Director, Mr Aktaruz Zamman.
Personalities from the UK curry industry in attendance included Ahmed us Samad Chowdhury JP, Chairman of Channel S; Mukim Ahmed, Former Chair of the British Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce; Nur ul Islam Mahbub, Chair of Greater Sylhet Council; Mahtab Chowdhury, Chair of the British Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce; Eafor Ali, Chair of the British Bangladeshi Caterers Association; and Yawor Khan, Chair of the Federation of Bangladeshi Caterers, Asian Catering Federation and Founder of the Asian Curry Awards. Hospitality was provided by Pride of Asia.
Unlike others, Chef Online promises to take no commission on orders and plans to allow restaurants to use the service free for six months, beyond which there will be a flat rate, monthly subscription fee of £53 (approximately £1.75 per day). Restaurants will be provided with a free, customised website; client database; online ordering platform; table reservation system; membership to the Chef Online intermediary platform; and 7am-11pm customer support service. Chef Online’s strategic partner is Amber IT – one of the leading IT and technology providers based in Bangladesh, with a team of over 600 staff.
Speaking at the event, leading Bangladeshi industrialist, IT and technology provider, Showkat Aziz Russell, Chair of Amber Group and Chairman of Chef Online, said, “It is a changing environment for the restaurant industry and we have to adjust to that change. We need to be technologically advanced. We need to have a website as an introduction to what we do, in the digital century. Chef Online is an online ordering platform, updating as we speak.”
Chef Online also promises to build unique, customised websites for subscriber restaurants in keeping with their brand identities, allowing subscriber restaurants to have full control over the system, with no commission payable to a third party. Features as part of the Chef Online Smart Restaurant Solutions service includes: online ordering system through both e-commerce websites and mobile apps for both Apple iOS and Android devices; table reservation system that allows customers to reserve restaurant tables, with instant notification via SMS or email; offers, discounts and loyalty points – the Chef Online system has built in offers, discount and loyalty points so that restaurants can take advantage of offering promotions instantly through their dashboard; customer database that helps businesses assess what their customers want; and SEO integration for websites to ensure their content features prominently on major search engines such as Google.
Additionally, Chef Online’s Cloud EPOS system also promises to consolidate a subscriber restaurant’s customer database, sales reports and product inventories using their secure Cloud server. Chef Online’s SRS Cloud EPOS system is easy to use, with training provided on how to use it effectively and efficiently.
