Upscale bowling alley and restaurant chain Lucky Strike is making it easy for customers pay their tabs using their mobile devices via the Tabbedout mobile application.

The integration will enable customers to pay when they are ready and let wait staff spend more time serving food and drink. Tabbedout will be available to Lucky Strike customers at eight locations across the country.

“Tabbedout enhances the experience by speeding up the transaction part and letting them get straight to the enjoyment of our venues,” said Steven Foster, CEO of Lucky Strike, Sherman Oaks, CA.

“With Tabbedout there is no waiting at the bar to close out if it is busy and no hassling with giving a credit card to start a tab,” he said. “Everything is controlled in the application to make the payment process fast and without any waiting.”

No more waiting
The Tabbedout mobile payments app is integrated with Lucky Strike’s Micros point-of-sale system. This enables the chain to create a better customer experience since customers no longer have to wait for a server to bring them their check.

Lucky Strike locations typically have several difference areas where customers can go – the bowling lanes, a bar and multiple lounges. With Tabbedout, customers will be able to move around to these various locations and still be able to open, pay and view their tab.

The Lucky Strike locations where Tabbedout will be available are in Hollywood, Boston, Orange County, Denver, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Chicago.

Tabbedout is a free app available for iPhone and Android phones.

The mobile payment app enables users to securely store credit or debit card information directly on their phone. The information is encrypted and under passphrase protection.

As a result, customers can open and their tab directly from their phone without having to hand over their credit or debit information to a server.

Users can also view their itemized tab in real time.

Tabbedout also offers a feature that enables merchants to push special offers to consumers from within the app. Consumers can see the offer and redeem the offer instantly in the app – the discount is automatically deducted from their tab.

Convenience counts
Tabbedout is currently available in more than 1,000 bars and restaurants nationwide.

For example, Tabbedout provides the mobile payments and loyalty functionality for the My Friday’s Tab within T.G.I. Friday’s mobile app, with the mobile payments functionality integrated with around 70 percent of the chains locations (see story).

Additionally, the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut has enhanced the customer experience by giving customers the ability to pay their restaurant and bar tabs using a smartphone and the Tabbedout app (see story).

“Customers enjoy using Tabbedout for the convenience of paying from their phone,” said Alex Broeker, president of Tabbedout, Austin, TX. “Not only can they open a tab from their phone and pay when they are ready to go, they can track what they are ordering.

“This means they can make sure their tab is accurate and they no longer have to wait for a server to bring their check at the end of their dining experience or after they order a drink,” he said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associte editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York