Unifying distributed store management… Maximizing franchise efficiency through integrated sales, customer, and operations management.
– Innovating franchise management with an integrated solution based on the payhere POS ecosystem.
From individual stores to brand growth… A paradigm shift in payhere's business.
Payhere officially launched "payhere Business," an integrated store management solution for franchisees and multi-store owners, in July. "payhere Business" moves beyond the traditional point-of-sale (POS)-centric, individual store management model, enabling headquarters to efficiently manage multiple stores in an integrated manner.
Payhere has been providing a wide range of functions, from store creation (the "payhere app") to store operations ("payhere POS"), including reservations, orders, and payments, and store management ("payhere Switch"), all through proprietary hardware and software. With the launch of "payhere Business," Payhere has launched a service that manages the entire store lifecycle, from branch management to store expansion. This service has enabled Payhere to evolve beyond store growth into a comprehensive solutions provider that supports brand growth.
Payhere was designated as an "Innovative Financial Service" by the Financial Services Commission in 2020 and won the grand prize at the Red Dot Design Award. It was also selected for the "K-Fintech 30" list that same year and was named one of Forbes' "Asia's 100 Most Promising Companies" in 2023, demonstrating its technological prowess recognized both domestically and internationally.
We met with Product Manager (PM) Yoonjae Lee, who manages Payhere's service platform, oversees the 'system tribe' (4 out of 5 squads), and is in charge of planning and developing new businesses such as 'payhere business', at the Payhere office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. We talked about the background of developing 'payhere business' and future plans. PM Yoonjae Lee was an early member of the electric kickboard sharing service Kickgoing and worked in B2C service for 4 years before recognizing the potential of Payhere's offline service and joining Payhere in early 2024.
Beyond the limitations of fragmented management tools
A franchise supervisor's day is filled with constant communication with stores. They're caught up in repetitive tasks—from checking sales figures to introducing new menu items to troubleshooting POS errors—and the more crucial aspects of developing store operation strategies and analyzing performance often take a backseat.
"payhere Business," officially launched last July, was created to address precisely this problem. It's a solution that allows headquarters to centrally manage multiple branches, moving beyond the distributed operations centered on individual POS machines. It manages sales and customer data at each branch in real time, and changes like new menus and pricing policies are automatically reflected across all stores with a single change from headquarters. This one-click, integrated management solution eliminates the inefficiencies previously associated with individual contact and repetitive tasks at each branch.
Through "payhere Business," you can comprehensively analyze sales across all branches, regardless of POS device type, and compare and manage sales across delivery platforms like Baedal Minjok, Coupang Eats, and Yogiyo. You can develop data-driven product strategies through category-specific sales contribution analysis, and apply product information and pricing policies across all stores with a single click.
By integrating customer data from multiple locations, you can discover hidden VIPs and operate a unified membership program. Purchasing tendencies and repeat visit patterns are analyzed to send personalized marketing messages to each customer, and review management is fully automated. When a customer pays for a table order, points are automatically accumulated and a review request notification is automatically sent. This automates the cumbersome process of having the owner personally announce the event and the customer verify their receipt. Future integration with Naver Places will also allow updates to POS information to be reflected in real time on Naver Maps.
Headquarters can remotely control all devices, including POS, kiosks, and table ordering, in all stores. Store requests are automatically sorted for efficient processing, and QSC inspection results are automatically generated as reports. Franchisees can conveniently order headquarters-certified materials, and royalties are automatically calculated based on sales structure, enhancing management efficiency.
"Currently, there are services on the market for sales analysis, customer management, and communication. However, each store is forced to use multiple services tailored to its specific function, which can be inconvenient."
PM Lee Yoon-jae emphasized, "The reason these services are fragmented is because they aren't based on POS devices." He explained that services provided by non-POS companies have difficulty integrating with POS systems, and integrating and managing multiple devices, such as table ordering and kiosks, presents limitations.
Built on Payhere's Force ecosystem
Why is this integrated store management possible? The key lies in Payhere's existing POS ecosystem.
Payhere's POS ecosystem is an integrated store management system centered on POS devices. The POS device serves as a central hub for all in-store devices and data. Key product information, such as menus, prices, and discounts, is managed by the POS device, and kiosks and table ordering systems synchronize this information in real time. Additional devices, such as waiting systems and payment terminals, are also organically connected through the POS device.
Payhere has been providing integrated retail solutions encompassing POS, kiosks, waiting, table ordering, and payment terminals. After securing the industry's largest franchisee base with the launch of its cloud-based mobile POS in 2020, Payhere gradually expanded its ordering, payment, customer management, and marketing capabilities to complete its current integrated platform.
Payhere is pursuing the advancement of core functions such as customer menu preference analysis, inventory management, and sales analysis, while expanding its service to enable sharing of core functions such as sales analysis with stores using third-party POS and devices through API integration.
Helping brand growth and coexistence
"If existing POS machines were tools for store growth, 'payhere business' is a tool that helps brand growth."
When asked about the differences between the existing POS ecosystem and the 'payhere business', PM Lee Yoon-jae defined it as follows.
The existing payhere service was a tool for individual store owners, integrating POS, kiosks, and table ordering to streamline all operations within a single store, thereby fostering store growth. "payhere Business" is a solution that not only improves individual store efficiency but also allows the entire brand to be managed as a unified entity. Information on new menu items, for example, is registered once at headquarters and then simultaneously reflected across all stores. This goes beyond simple efficiency and ensures the entire brand operates with consistent messaging and policies.
More importantly, data utilization is paramount. While individual stores can only track their own sales, brands can gain insights by synthesizing data across all their stores. "We can analyze from a brand-wide perspective which regions are selling well with new menu items, which time zones are seeing sales peaks, and how customer preferences are evolving."
This systematization also has the advantage of resolving differences across stores. "Because the supervisor position doesn't have a clearly defined area of expertise, the quality of store management varies depending on the individual's capabilities. Stores managed by experienced SVs often perform well, while stores managed by new SVs often struggle. 'PayHereBusiness' systematizes these individual differences, allowing the entire brand to maintain consistent quality."
The core of payhere's business is to move beyond the fragmented operations of individual stores and create integrated synergy as a single brand. We rapidly disseminate operational expertise from high-performing stores across all branches, and provide systematic support from headquarters to struggling stores.
This signifies a paradigm shift from growth centered on individual stores to brand growth through collaboration between headquarters and stores. "PayHere Business" is a true brand growth tool that enables this shift.
The most important value of "payhere business" is "mutual benefit." At first glance, it may seem like the headquarters is a tool for stronger management and supervision of franchisees, but in reality, the opposite is true.
PM Lee Yoon-jae emphasized, “Payhere aims to provide a service that fosters mutual growth and cooperation, such as having the headquarters monitor the sales of each franchise and, when sales are low, create a task force team to increase sales.”
Indeed, franchisees are also welcoming the introduction of "payhere business." PM Lee Yoon-jae presented his vision, saying, "We want to create a virtuous cycle where supervisors can focus on store operations by working efficiently, and store growth fuels the growth of the brand."
Growing into a platform that creates a franchise ecosystem
Payhere's goal is to continually provide compelling reasons to choose POS. While other POS platforms are slow to update features, Payhere consistently updates features to meet user needs and continues to enhance its POS integration solution.
Payhere's strategy is to create a virtuous cycle through synergy between the "payhere business" and the POS ecosystem. POS ecosystem data is utilized to develop "payhere business" features, and customer needs discovered within "payhere business" lead to improvements in the POS ecosystem.
Simply developing a POS device or store management software alone has its limitations. This strategic virtuous cycle is evolving Payhere from a simple POS device manufacturer to a franchise ecosystem infrastructure provider. This strategy goes beyond individual product competitiveness to compete on the strength of the entire ecosystem.
Payhere Business goes beyond mere technological integration. It's positioning itself as a platform that addresses structural issues within the franchise ecosystem and fosters a symbiotic relationship between headquarters and franchisees. Creating a virtuous cycle where the success of individual stores leads to the success of the brand—this is the future Payhere envisions.
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