Waterfront Street Kitchen & Bar near London ExCel taps Sticky NFC ordering tech as it opens doors to public

A new London ExCel Waterfront Street Kitchen & Bar recently opened, with the 400 capacity space offering an all day dining experience at the Immerse LDN district.

In a LinkedIn post, Harry Ridley, Head of Technology at Levy UK & Ireland, who worked on the project, said: “Waterfront has received my Tech of the Month award (both venue engagement and technology adoption). By leveraging Sticky NFC ordering, we have seen faster transactions, increased user engagement, seamless order fulfilment and most importantly happier customers.”

Customers tap their phone on a NFC tab for instant web access and ordering.

Ridley added: “Quick fire benefits: Speed. NFC technology is as rapid as contactless payments at the London Underground; Distribution: QR codes are easy to print and copy, leading to poor quality experiences. NFC tabs are encrypted and integrated into table numbers and kept robust.”

“Accessibility. Using a camera can be challenging for some users. Technology should be inclusive and efficient for everyone, both front and back of house. NFC is activated by tap (using phone’s NFC module) no need to open camera app.”

“Security. NFC stickers have unguessable URLs, ensuring precise physical location access and reducing QR code fraud (replacing QR codes in situ with "bad actor" codes); Platform. NFC excels (at the ExCeL!) with a complementary platform, making tasks like ordering a drink or food in seamless and fast process. Sending and splitting orders off to kitchen and bar dispense screens.”

Sticky

Earlier this year, UK-based startup Sticky picked up the Innovative Product of the Year award at Smart Retail Tech 2024.

The award, according to the show organisers, “recognises the most creative and unique product which has pushed the boundaries of smart retail tech and re-defined the future of this dynamic industry”.

Smarty beat out Bango and Consumer Insights Lab to secure the gong.

It enables retailers to turn more of their physical space into Points of Sale, and last year secured £1.5 million to fund its expansion plans.

The venture, which counts the burger chain Byron among its clients, attracted backing from new investors Praetura Ventures and Cornerstone VC. The round also included follow on funding from SFC Capital.

Sticky uses its own operating system with NFC technology to enable companies in sectors such as retail, hospitality and health and fitness to process payment transactions in less than 10 seconds. Based in Manchester, the company was founded by Priscilla Israel and James Garner in 2020.

"We help our customers see their physical space as an asset and as a way to make more money," Israel told Sky News. "The future of physical spaces is well debated but at Sticky there is no debate about their future or value - they are where we all live and work."

David Foreman, Managing Partner at Praetura Ventures, said: "Sticky has taken a visionary approach to the problem of unused retail space and online engagement in offline environments, and that is what attracted us to invest in the business."