Opportunities: Top up on potential

Pubs are topping up the traditional service they can provide by offering a range of mobile phone products, as Andrew House describes.

Two pints of lager and a packet of dry roasted," says the customer, fumbling in his pockets. "And could you put a tenner on my phone as well, please?" This scenario may not be familiar to you yet, but brace yourself because electronic mobile phone top-up (e-top-up) and the sale of mobile games, ringtones and logos are set to become a common spectacle in pubs.

The main reason for offering e-top-up and "mobile content" for publicans is that it is good for business.

Tens of millions of people in the UK use pay-as-you-go mobile phones. Much to their frustration, they can run out of credit anywhere and at any time. This huge number of people spend a lot of time down the pub, and presents a substantial new opportunity for publicans to increase revenues.

So how can you get involved in this opportunity? The only device you need is an e-top-up terminal which combines standard credit and debit payment facilities with the ability to vend mobile products.

You can buy a terminal without a contract or monthly charges and earn commission every time a customer tops up.

Like fruit machines, quiz machines and cigarette machines, the e-top-up terminal is an item of pub equipment that pays for itself.

Unlike other machines, however, it doesn't occupy a huge block of floor space. It is inconspicuous and fits neatly in the palm of your hand so it can be passed backwards and forwards across the bar.

Ringtones, games and logos​

As well as mobile phone credit the terminals can also be used to add "mobile content" to customers' phones, including games, logos, wall-paper and ringtones.

There is increased demand for ringtones now that the latest phones offer polyphonic sound. More ringtones are bought than CD singles in the UK and the ringtone music chart is gaining currency - but the potential has yet to be fully realised. Many phone users who would like to have personal ringtones are deterred by the premium-rate landline numbers they find in magazines or on websites.

E-top-up terminals satisfy these customers by delivering mobile content at a reasonable price in high demand areas. It's just a case of having a terminal in the right place at the right time.

How does it work?​

An e-top-up terminal is easy to set up. The licensee simply loads a printer roll, then plugs the terminal into the phone and power sockets. It is also straightforward to use. The displays on e-top-up terminals are as user-friendly as cash machines.

Customer awareness can be spread by leaflets, beermats or through word of mouth.

When a customer wants to add credit to a mobile phone his or her card is swiped and the transaction is completed by barstaff following the onscreen instructions.

For ringtones, games and logos the terminal prints out a personal identification number (PIN) so customers can look at, listen to or play with the content they have paid for. It sounds simple because it is - they don't call it "plug-and-play" for nothing.

Mobile content is kept up-to-date without the inconvenience of holding and replenishing physical stock. Because the terminal vends activation PINs customers can use it to buy any number of products available on the internet.

The future of the top-up market​

The future for e-top-up is looking very healthy. In terms of timing, the explosion in demand for e-top-up coincides with the January 1, 2005 deadline for Chip & PIN compliance. If retailers, including publicans, are already upgrading their EPoS it makes sense to ensure their new terminals have e-top-up capabilities.

Over the next few years an e-top-up boom will see publicans enjoying increased footfall and customer loyalty, increased sales and improved customer service.

Commissions on e-top-up sales can be increased and margins on mobile data products will then become even more attractive - typically at around 20 per cent. The opportunity is here and the time is right for joining in this revolution.

• Andrew House is managing director of e-top-up terminal supplier MultePay - www.multepay.com.

Mobile facts​

• The mobile data market was valued at over £70m in 2003, according to the Mobile Data Association
• Some 70 per cent of UK mobile phone users prefer using pay-as-you-go to paying monthly phone bills.

Case study: the Railway Inn, Penclawdd, Swansea​

The Railway Inn is a traditional village pub in Penclawdd, Swansea. It is frequented by locals of all ages and has been run by June and Glyn Francis for the last seven-and-a-half years.

They installed a MultePay e-top-up terminal in March 2004 and have been very pleased with its contribution to the services the pub offers. "It has given my customers an easy way to top up," June says.

"They can add credit whenever they like so it's good from acustomer service point of view. It was easy to set up as well."

June wanted an e-top-up terminal because nobody else in the locality offered such a facility in the evenings.

But the Railway is now selling e-top-ups to customers during the day when they would otherwise have turned to the village post office.

"Because we are a small village the original idea was to serve people who wanted to top up after the post office had closed," June remarks. "But it's not working out like that at all - people just come here to top up now!"

Case study: Old Brandy Wine, Halifax​

Martin Rodes has run Old Brandy Wine, near Halifax, Yorkshire, with his wife Louise for 11 years. During that time they have served a varied clientele, many of whom stop off for a drink before and after meals at the Indian restaurant upstairs.

Old Brandy Wine stopped selling paper top-up vouchers in February and replaced them with a MultePay terminal. "We used to offer vouchers for mobile phone top-up but they were phased out at the cash-and-carry," Martin explains.

The vouchers didn't always cater for the customers' needs either. "They were only available in higher denominations for some networks - one only offered £20 vouchers," Martin says. "That wasn't ideal for customers who were strapped for cash in the middle of the week and only wanted £5 worth of top-up."

E-top-up has been popular with a wide range of customers in the pub. "It is used by people of all ages," says Martin, adding that he was pleased to avoid entering into a fixed contract.

"It means we can review the profitability at any time and it's good to have that flexibility."

Download tunes and gig tickets​

People will soon be visiting the pub to download music from the internet. Inspired Broadcast Networks, the company behind 7,000 Itboxes and 800 networked jukeboxes installed in pubs and leisure venues around the country, is to expand the capability of its machines. This will permit consumers to buy music with credit cards - and, for the first time, with cash.

Launching with the slogan "digital life for everyone", the service means more than two million tunes will be available to download onto mobile phones and MP3 players.

Inspired has also launched a new breed of terminal which will be able to vend travel and concert tickets from lastminute.com, mobile phone top-ups and a host of other digital products.