How Hot Rocks Flexes a Seasonal Seafront Operation Across Three Service Areas

Running a multi-area seafront restaurant on a seasonal calendar is an operational challenge. Hot Rocks on Pier Approach, Bournemouth — terrace, restaurant floor, and bar — each with a different rhythm and each needing cover whether trade justified it or not.

Seasonal maths

In peak summer, the footfall is there. Off-season, the maths gets harder. Full table service and a bar queue at every area meant the operation scaled up but did not easily scale back. When trade slowed, the team was still covering ground that did not need covering.

The problem

With three areas running different service styles, coordination was constant. The traditional model tied labour to covers — not to margin. And verbal order-taking left upselling to chance.

Our business is incredibly seasonal, so managing labour was always a challenge.

The shift

The question was not really about QR codes. Could they give guests a faster, better experience while running the operation more efficiently?

That had to work across a complex, multi-area site — not just a single room — without sacrificing the service quality that brings people back to a seafront venue all summer.

The solution

Hot Rocks did not flip everything overnight. They built a model that fits how the site actually operates.

On the terrace: fully QR. Guests order from their seats. Staff focus on delivery and floor presence — not taking orders and processing payments at every table.

On the restaurant floor: a hybrid. QR ordering sits alongside table service. Guests choose how they want to interact. Staff handle the experience, not the admin.

Click & Collect runs through Storekit via Deliverect. Less time on process. More time on hospitality. When the rooftop opens, Storekit is already part of the plan.

The impact

Speed of service improved massively. Guests get what they want faster without waiting for a member of staff to become available. The ordering journey drives basket size in ways verbal ordering rarely does.

The speed of service has improved massively, and the upselling potential has been amazing.

Early on, older customers were sceptical about apps and sign-ins. That friction is gone — most customers now prefer ordering from their seats. On the terrace, the queue at the bar has largely disappeared.

The team operates far more efficiently.

What this actually means

Hot Rocks is a seasonal business. Revenue peaks hard and the operation has to flex with it.

Before Storekit, flexibility was hard to find across three areas on traditional service. More covers meant more staff — regardless of whether the margin was there to support it.

Now the model works in both directions. Busy periods still get great service. Quieter periods do not carry the same overhead. For multi-area hospitality with a seasonal profile, that is an operational decision — not just a tech one.