From Nanjin to London
Bubble teas have taken London by storm over the past few years, immersing more and more locals in the Asian culture. Since it first opened its doors in the British capital, The Whale Tea, a popular bubble tea brand from Nanjin, China, with more than 300 stores across the world, quickly became known for its tasty, dazzling and Instagram-worthy bubble tea drinks.
The Whale Tea runs branches across the city, with locations in Queensway, Greenwich, Stratford and, most recently, Chinatown. The ribbon of the first branch in Queensway was cut in 2019 and soon had queues stretching out of the door. The Whale Tea bubble teas have enthused the local community, creating a strong buzz on the brand’s social media.
Using the chewy and bouncy joys of tapioca pearls (or boba) in a similar way as the traditional Taiwanese recipe, The Whale Tea adds their own spin to their beverages. This includes an array of unique toppings, textures and flavours infused with herbal tea and colouring from polycarpic plants.
The challenge
As for several other hospitality businesses during Covid-19, navigating the rollercoaster of lockdowns, rules and restrictions emerged as a key challenge for The Whale Tea. With the easing of restrictions and the reopening of hospitality, remaining at the top of a competitive industry was a priority for the bubble tea brand.
In this new, post-pandemic world, consumers have radically changed their shopping habits, including the ways they choose to pay. With customer preferences shifting heavily towards contactless cards and digital payments, it was crucial for The Whale Tea to cater to this new demand. Indeed, debit cards were the most used payment option in restaurants and point of sale in the UK as of 2022 according to Statista. Furthermore, payments made with mobile devices, such as smartphones or smartwatches, were also favoured by Brits.
Equally, the need for speedier and more efficient customer service was heightened.
‘It became obvious that to meet new customer payment habits and improve our overall in-store experience, we needed to offer fast and seamless payments.’Steve Low | Director at The Whale Tea
To achieve this, The Whale Tea looked to partner with the right payment service provider to support the brand with hands-on advisory and advanced payment solutions. With the recommendation of the brand’s ePOS provider, and in line with their business needs, The Whale Tea selected emerchantpay as their payment partner. emerchantpay’s 20 years of experience in payments assured that it can empower The Whale Tea’s growth in its new era.
The solutions
Updating their card terminals to modern and dynamic solutions was paramount for the business. The Whale Tea worked closely with emerchantpay to choose the terminals that checked all the boxes. The PAX A920 terminals with their sleek design and multiple capabilities seemed like the right fit for the business’ card processing needs.
Currently, The Whale Tea runs on five terminals across their three stores in London. The powerful software of the card machines packed in elegant and smart hardware offers the store a wide range of connectivity options – from 4G to WiFi – and a lasting battery; both of which ensure uninterrupted operations throughout the day. The terminals are chip and pin and NFC, which enables to process customers’ payment methods of choice, including digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay™ and contactless transactions.
‘The setup of emerchantpay’s terminal was quick and we were able to start accepting payments within hours.’Steve Low | Director at The Whale Tea
emerchantpay’s card machines are connected to the self-ordering kiosks at the location in Greenwich, allowing The Whale Tea customers to place their orders and instantly pay with ease by using the touchscreen menus.
Furthermore, through the integration between emerchantpay’s terminals and the store’s ePOS system at the busy locations in Stratford and Greenwich, the business can serve customers at peak times more quickly and smoothly. With the integration, the store’s staff doesn't need to manually key in transaction amounts into the terminals, helping them accept payments faster, and eliminating manual errors. This is particularly important during store rush hours with increased demand.
Additionally, to further facilitate the cash flow of the business, emerchantpay enables The Whale Tea to receive fast settlements for their card transactions. As a result, the business can worry less about finances and focus more on sustainably growing their business.
‘emerchantpay has made our day to day much easier. Also, knowing that our payments and ePOS system are connected, and we can see all our inventory and payments in one place is a big help,’ Added Steve.
The impact
With the high efficiency of emerchantpay’s card terminals and the expert support provided, The Whale Tea is better positioned to expand its business, deliver better customer service and achieve operational agility through payments.
‘The Whale Tea is a people-first brand. So, we needed partners who share the same values and passion for exceptional service which sets our customers at the heart of our operations. We believe emerchantpay is the ideal partner to help us reach even greater heights of growth.’Steve Low | Director at The Whale Tea
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