Case Study: J2 and the Cipriani Restaurant

In 1931, Guiseppe Cipriani opened Harrys Bar on the waterfront of St. Marks in Venice, adjacent to the most beautiful square in the world.  Little did he know this would become the cornerstone of restaurants and bars that would carry his name the world over and would captivate successive generations of rich, famous and stylish individuals. 

In the intervening years, establishments with the same atmosphere, reputation for individual service and culinary heritage have opened in New York, Sardinia, and Hong Kong.  Each has instantly acquired iconic status. 

The most recent opening has been the Cipriani Restaurant in London, in 2004.  Cipriani surprised everyone by the speed with which it became one of the capitals busiest and most talked about restaurants.  Attracting more than its fair share of glamour, Cipriani regulars include David Beckham who chose it as the venue for a recent birthday celebration with the Spice Girls.

When it came to technology, the Cipriani management team wanted a system that would be discreet, would offer total reliability, and could cope with high transaction volumes.  With the help of hospitality solutions specialist, TISSL, the team selected a J2 920 PC-based touchscreen EPoS from J2 Retail Systems.

J2 and TISSL combine to deliver a great system: easy to use and very reliable.  Whenever I need to speak to the office, even for something as minor as forgetting my password, they always find time to help.  Thats what I call service!  Mauro Manfe, General Manager at Cipriani Restaurant.

The Benefits

 The system has delivered exceptional reliability and performance
 Just one terminal supports very high transaction volumes
 All front-office and back-office functions come packaged within a single solution
 Integration to programs such as accounting is included, as is support for Chip & PIN
 The unit is quiet and unobtrusive
 Staff enjoy the intuitive touchscreen operation
 365-day support from TISSL has given Cipriani a sense of confidence

The Solution

Worldwide, the Cipriani establishments use another well-known supplier for point-of-sale and accounting processes.  However, when it came to the London venue, its then General Manager wanted a system with which he was already familiar and which he felt was more flexible.  He also wanted to retain a relationship with TISSL, given the functionality of the TISSL EPoS solution, and knowing he could be confident of a superior level of service and support.

Cipriani invited TISSL for discussions and a demonstration.  The TISSL team considered the transaction volumes that its system would need to support and recommended J2s 920: the model that is the workhorse of the J2 product range.  It was clear that this system was a good option for Cipriani, and certainly easier to use than the Micros.
 
The Process

The objective was to run the Cipriani business with just one unit.  TISSL installed the J2 920, confident that it would deliver the reliability and resilience that Cipriani needed.  From day one of the restaurant, it has used this single PC-based EPoS to manage all its sales transactions and related accounting processes. 

Explains John Tod, who is Sales Director and a partner at TISSL:  TISSL prides itself on its reputation for having a 100% referenceable customer base.  Given our brief to run the entire operation on one unit only, it was imperative that the supplier and product we recommended were able to meet this requirement.  J2 and its 920 machine have been a great choice.

Today, the restaurant is extremely popular.  Commonly serving 3,000 covers a week, it ranks in financial terms as one of most successful in the world.  Even in these testing conditions, the J2 920 has performed well.

Continues John Tod: Ciprianis J2 920 has distinguished itself as one of the busiest single terminals in the Hospitality market.  The management team at Cipriani remain convinced that this is the way to run their business.

The Results

The TISSL EPoS solution gives the Cipriani team everything it needs to run a fast-paced restaurant.  For management information, integrated EPoS functionality provides reports which reveal business performance, and which then integrate into the restaurants accounting package.  Integrated Chip & PIN functionality drives credit and debit card transactions.  As well as taking payments, the J2 920 is used to place all of Ciprianis orders. 

Ciprianis requirement for a discreet unit has also been met.  The J2 920 is located in a booth, hidden from the eyes of the clientele, as is appropriate in this fining dining environment.

J2 920

The J2 920 supports the most demanding point-of-sale and point-of-service markets.  It utilises the latest Intel technology, the M1.2GHz processor, to improve customer transactions.  Dependability, durability, and sleek design come together to deliver a lower cost of investment coupled with product longevity.
The J2 920s open platform offers support for a broad range of operating systems, industry-standard peripherals and connectivity options including Wireless operation, Dual VGA Screens, CD Rom, DVD and iButton.

About J2 Retail Systems

J2 Retail Systems is a specialist manufacturer of PC-based touchscreens, LCD touchscreen monitors and point-of-sale hardware to the retail, hospitality and leisure industries.  With 50,000+ units installed worldwide, its clients include cinema group Vue Entertainment, and retailers Greggs and Thresher Group.

By controlling design and manufacture, J2 has built a reputation for innovation, reliability and cost-effectiveness. Credited with introducing thin client EPoS, J2 uses emergent technologies wherever possible to reduce the cost of hardware ownership. 

Sales in the UK, Continental Europe and the Middle East are managed from the companys Warrington headquarters.  J2 Retail Systems Inc. in California covers the USA, Canada and South American markets. 

About TISSL Limited

TISSL specialises in delivering hospitality/EPoS solutions to clients throughout the UK and Europe. It prides itself on providing a cost-effective solution that is tailor-made to each client, then backing it up with exceptional support.

Designed by hospitality professionals for Hotels, Restaurants, Pubs, Bars, Clubs, Functions and the Fast Food markets, the TISSL EPoS solution keeps pace with technology advances and outperforms its competitors in speed, accuracy, reliability, flexibility and ease of use.

With 365-day Help Line support, free software upgrades, extended hardware warranty and ongoing maintenance, TISSL has earned a reputation for quality and service.