The Virtual Lounge is a complimentary digital experience built to help you engage your dine-in customers throughout the various touchpoints that they have with your brand. With the Virtual Lounge you can:
Engage & deliver effective marketing messages to customers on-premise and off-premise
Free up time for your staff by letting customers find what they need easily
Capture first-party customer data
To learn more about Virtual Lounges, click here, or try a demo here.
1. Where can the Virtual Lounge be used?
The Virtual Lounge can be used to engage customers at various points throughout their journey with your brand.
On-premise engagement | Off-premise engagement |
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2. Setting up your Virtual Lounge for the first time
Setting up your Virtual Lounge only takes a minute. To setup:
Go to Engage > Virtual Lounge in your Merchant Admin
Click on “Setup Now”
Pick a URL for a Virtual Lounge
Hit “Save and Continue” to create your Virtual Lounge and to access the editor
Your Virtual Lounge can also be styled to represent your brand. To change the styling of your Virtual Lounge:
In the Virtual Lounge Editor, under “Brand Colors”, click on “Primary Color”
Select a colour that represents your brand
To populate your Virtual Lounge with engaging content, you can use the Virtual Lounge Editor to add Engagement Cards and Links.
3. Setting up Engagement Cards
Engagement cards are an interactive and engaging medium that can help you communicate marketing messages effectively. You can showcase short and engaging content, such as images and videos that converts with clear call-to-action buttons.
To set up an Engagement Card:
In the Merchant Admin, Navigate to Engage > Virtual Lounge
Click on “Launch Editor”
In the Virtual Lounge Editor, click on “Add Card”
Upload your content such an image or short video & include a thumbnail cover image
Enter a Thumbnail Title - this will be the title of the Engagement Card shown on your Virtual Lounge
(Optional) Enter a "Title" and "Subtitle" to describe your content
(Optional) Enable “Include a Call-to-Action button?” if you wish to drive a conversion action. Buttons can open a web page or trigger a sign-up form.
(Optional) Enable “Show this card on Selected Days and Times?” if you want this engagement card to be displayed only on certain days or times. For example, you could display your lunch promotion only during lunch hours (e.g. 11:00am - 2:00pm).
(Optional) Enable “Show this card for Selected Stores?” if you want this engagement card to be displayed only for certain stores. For example, you could display a promotion that is applicable only at selected stores. Do note that for this to work, you’ll need to have different QR codes for each store.
Click on “Save Card” to create your Engagement Card
The order of your Engagement Cards can be rearranged
Engagement Cards can also be temporarily hidden by toggling off the switch
Tip:
You can leverage your existing content posted to social media, such as Instagram Stories or TikTok Reels, and use it in your Virtual Lounge.
4. Setting up Links
Help your customers find what matters quickly with Links. Showcase important Links such as your PDF menu, FAQ or membership signup page, on your Virtual Lounge.
To set up a Link:
In the Merchant Admin, Navigate to Engage > Virtual Lounge
Click on “Launch Editor”
Click on “Add Link” to create your Link
Type a "Link Title" that describes what the link is
Input the link URL or upload any media such as a PDF
(Optional) Enable “Show this link on Selected Days and Times?” if you want this link to be displayed only on certain days or times. For example, you could display your lunch menu only during lunch hours (e.g. 11:00am - 2:00pm).
(Optional) Enable “Show this link for Selected Stores?” if you want this link to be displayed only for certain stores. For example, you could display a promotion that is applicable only at selected stores. Do note that for this to work, you’ll need to have different QR codes for each store.
In the Virtual Lounge Editor, Click on “Save Link”
The order of your Links can be rearranged
Links can also be temporarily hidden by toggling off the switch
5. Collect Customer Data with Signup Forms
Engagement cards can also be configured to drive newsletter signups.
To collect customer data with Signup Forms:
You’ll first need to create an Engagement Card and enable Enable “Include a Call-to-Action button?”
Select “Newsletter Sign-up”
Choose a name for your call-to-action button such as “Sign Up”
Add a Sign-up Form "Title" and "Description" to describe the benefits of signing up to your customer
Include a “Sign-up Success Message” to thank your customers for signing up
Tip:
Customer data captured will be stored in your database and accessible in the “Customers” page in your Merchant Admin.
6. Generate QR Codes to deploy your Virtual Lounge
To let customers discover your Virtual Lounge at various points throughout the customer journey, you will need to create QR codes and have them printed. We have made it easy to generate QR codes via the merchant admin.
To generate QR Codes:
In the Merchant Admin, Navigate to Engage > Virtual Lounge
Click on “Get QR Codes” under “Generate ready to print QR codes”
Select “By Brand” if you only require one single QR code which can be used anyway or Select “By Store” if you have different content per store or want to track your engagement separately
If “By Store” was selected, select which stores you want to generate QR codes for
Click “Download as Zip” to get the QR Codes in JPG, PNG and SVG formats
Note
The QR codes are shortened links for tracking purposed.
7. Add an Announcement
Announcements can be displayed on your Virtual Lounge and can be used when you want to quickly inform or update your customers.
To add an announcement:
In the Merchant Admin, Navigate to Engage > Virtual Lounge
Click on “Add an Announcement” under “Add Announcement”
Type in your announcement and click on “Save and Continue”
You will be able to remove your announcement by clicking on “Clear Announcement” when you no longer require it