Naïm: The Importance Of Innovation In Hospitality

The team at Naïm has one vision for the beautiful Brisbane-based restaurant: to create a wide range of Middle Eastern inspired dishes, including plant-based and halal-friendly options, in an environment dedicated to food and friends. And, over the last six years, that’s exactly what they’ve achieved. 

Derived from Arabic, Naïm means pleasant– a feeling that co-owners Vince Estacio and B.J. Wall wants their guests to experience when they’re dining and enjoying their time at Naïm.

We spoke with Vince Estacio, Head Chef and Co-owner of Naïm, who walked us through his experience with Lightspeed, and how Lightspeed’s constant innovation meant that the restaurant could quickly adopt other ordering channels to cope with Covid and beyond.  

Lightspeed Ordering: a journey from traditional dining to online ordering

In a pre-Covid world, Naïm’s dine-in trade was a roaring success. Because of this, online ordering for takeaway or delivery was barely a consideration and Vince estimates that Naïm produced less than 20 takeaway orders per week before Covid.

“We had never even thought of takeaway or delivery as our dine-in trade was really good,” comments Vince.  

However, like countless other hospitality businesses, Naïm were quickly forced to pivot their operations when Covid lockdowns and restrictions hit Brisbane.

“Lightspeed ordering came around because of Covid…we’d never done anything like this before – but it was a great opportunity to pivot the restaurant.”  

With the help of Lightspeed Ordering, Naïm steadily grew their online ordering sales, and online orders, either for pickup or delivery, now account for 10% of Naïm’s weekly revenue, providing the businesses with an easy-to-implement extra source of income. 

Vince believes that the usability of Lightspeed Ordering – both for staff and customers – is the key to its success. 

“I love the concept. I love the interface. I love the usability,” comments Vince. “It’s become an integral part of the business.”

“I’ve had no complaints from customers using Lightspeed Ordering, they really like it, it’s really easy. It’s the Apple of online ordering. It’s customisable – we can include our name in the URL and our branding.”

Taking Naïm online opened up a whole new revenue stream for the business. Not only do they receive orders via their website for takeaway and delivery, but they also get larger catering orders from repeat customers – further expanding their business model from a traditional dine-in experience. 

“At first I had a limited menu on Lightspeed Ordering and it was working, but it was a bit of a shock to the system. Then we started looking at it as another revenue stream and how we could support it.”

The importance of an innovative POS

When Vince and his business partner acquired Naïm, they changed 90% of the technology that was already in place – with the exception of Lightspeed.

“As we thought about efficiency and maximising the business, we knew Lightspeed was the best POS system,” explains Vince.

Lightspeed offers Naïm a powerful POS platform that’s easy to use and reliable whilst providing innovation that consistently helps them improve and grow the business. 

For Vince, innovation is paramount and a driving force behind a successful business. 

“I like Lightspeed because it’s reliable, easy to use and the brand always innovates to suit new technology, and I work the same way. I am efficient, I am reliable, and I work in a way that’s focused on how I can make things better, and so does Lightspeed”. 

“Lightspeed really works for us. The way it’s set up, the way it’s easy for the staff to use and the flow – I like when a brand constantly tries to innovate and make things more efficient, and I see that with Lightspeed.”

Lightspeed’s constant innovation of their product range also pushes Naïm to think about other possibilities for their business – such as QR ordering and embedded payments with Lightspeed Payments. 

“I am thinking of using the QR code ordering for our events, where the attraction is for the show and not necessarily for the service,” comments Vince.

He also explains how Naïm is considering switching their payment provider to Lightspeed Payments.

“For pure efficiency sake I love when things are integrated,” comments Vince. “We’ve been with Lightspeed for a really long time and it [Lightspeed Payments] just made sense, why wouldn’t I want your payment system to link with your POS system, it should just all go together.”