Picking the right ‘game changer’ for you

Many great ideas of the digital age are all about making a positive difference whether that be environmentally or for social enterprise.

So how can we as a region, embrace digital apps and new ideas that benefit our purpose and entrepreneurial spirit?

Maybe it is about using digital tech and apps to our advantage on a local level, to transform our business and making it a positive experience for customers and employees alike.

Bopple is just one of the many online apps on the market that is changing the way we order food and connect with customers.

Bopple, created in Brisbane in 2019, by three friends Angus McLachlan, Joe Cullen and Tim Dart is an online ordering platform, which in today’s COVID -19 climate has been adopted by many hospitality venues across the country, including right here in Mackay. 

Bopple is a free online platform that makes it easy to get started online, streamline ordering and nurture customer relationships.

Charlie’s Café located inside 138 years young local business Porters Mitre 10, integrated Bopple to their point-of-sale system in March last year as a way to keep the café open during the height of COVID-19.

Charlie’s Café Manager Maria O’Rielly said Bopple is now an integrated partner of their system and made it easy for the team to adapt and implement the process.

“With society moving into a more digital world, it is vital for us to implement new technologies to ensure we continue to grow and adapt with the everchanging environments.”

Bopple founder - Angus Mclachlan

“The app ensures we remain present; it also allows a convenient solution to busy people with the pickup and go mentality.”

Maria said the café is seeing rapid growth in the number of people using the app daily.

Bopple founder and Head of Growth Angus McLachlan said they began with a simple idea – that everyone should be able to order and pay easily.

“We’ve been rethinking how customers and businesses interact and transact ever since, even before they arrive.

“The light bulb moment was dreamt up whilst in London in a popular restaurant and outnumbering staff.  Coming from hospitality, we understood that customers did not mind waiting (to an extent), but how they waited was important. We asked, why couldn’t we connect the little computer in our pockets (our smartphones) to the computer behind the counter?”

“Tools and services that were once optional nice-to-haves, now become essential to the survival of hospitality businesses.

“We are on a mission to help businesses of all sizes to start, grow and succeed online,” Angus said.

And to succeed, Maria says her advice is to do your research. 

“Without research, you could invest in a digital app that doesn’t suit and will result in spending and unnecessary expenses.

“Make sure the digital app you choose is best suited to your business needs and allows for room to grow,” she said.