Christmas 101: Latest Self-Pour Breakthrough

“The Night Before Christmas”- Table Tap edition:

‘Twas the night before Christmas, Mr. Smith was in a bind. He had no gift for his wife, so what could he find? The local mall was still open, so off he went. Money in his pocket, ready to be spent.

After going from shop to shop, a good gift was not in sight. The stressed Mr. Smith really needed a Bud Light. To his luck he saw the best shop of them all, In the middle of the food court, a self-pour beer wall. 8 taps wide with 4 screens lit bright. He asked the attendant, “I pour my own, right?” The attendant said yes and checked his ID. Then gave him a $10 pour card with RFID. “Insert your card when you’re ready to pour, Tilt glass and pull tap for beer galore”

Mr. Smith perused the wall and, of course, found his Bud Light, But wanted to sample others by the ounce, some call that a flight. He tasted an IPA and thought “huh, what’s this?” So he tapped the screen and saw all the info on a list. Mr. Smith spoke out, “Wow, this wall is pretty cool”. The attendant replied, “yep, Table Tap is no fool”.

To their surprise, another man came up and chuckled real hard, “Ho Ho Ho, fellas! May I have a card? “Sure, Santa! But only 32 ounces for you. Tonight, you have a lot of driving to do”. So Mr. Smith and Santa finished up their pours. As the mall was getting ready to close its doors. At that time, an idea for his wife came to Mr. Smith. “Mr. Attendant, do you have prepaid cards as a gift?” With that Mr. Smith had the perfect present for his wife. Self-pour booze…. That sure is a happy life.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Table Tap! As you can probably gather from our Christmas tale, the concept of self-pour fits in great at shopping malls. Recently, Table Tap has installed several self-pour kiosks within malls to enhance the shopping experience.

What is a self-pour kiosk?

The sweet spot in terms of number of taps for these kiosks is 8-12. A product mix of both wine and beer works great to appeal to the various demographics of shoppers. Typically, we use direct draw units for these kiosks for ease of installation and flexibility.

The system functions the same way as any other Table Tap system. It can be run by a single attendant. That attendant is in charge of; checking IDs, taking payment, and then activating pour cards for customers. Through Table Tap’s fully integrated inhouse POS, customers can either sync a credit card to their pour card or preload money. At the wall, all they have to do is insert their card and then pour. Through our integration with Untappd, the customer can also tap on screen to see more information about each beverage on tap. If Mr. Smith can figure it out, anybody can!

Shopping is stressful, especially Christmas shopping. Just like Mr. Smith, sometimes you just need a drink to unwind after a long day on your feet. These kiosks are also a place where weary shoppers can escape to while their families and friends continue to peruse the mall.

In malls with open container policies, self-pour kiosks are a game changer and bring the “sip n shop” concept to a whole different level. Shoppers can refill their glass as they please without the worry of having to wait in line. For avid shoppers, Table Tap’s member card program is a great option. Through this program, shoppers can carry pre-loaded cards with balances that carry over from day-to-day. Based on their membership level, shoppers may receive certain discounts on their pours or exclusive happy hour pricing. Kiosk operators may also partner with other retailers in the mall to collaborate on promotions that incentivize mutual customers.

If you’re reading this and still have shopping to do, that’s okay! You still have time to pull a Mr. Smith and head to your local self-pour mall. Grab those last-minute presents and pour yourself a drink as well. Keep in mind, you can’t go wrong with a gift card to your local Table Tap location. Just ask Mrs. Smith!