A Byron Bay Institution

The Top Shop isn't just another beachside cafe. As Byron Bay's second oldest continuously running business, it has evolved through many iterations while maintaining its status as a community cornerstone.

"This building and this business is actually the second oldest continually running business in the whole town, next to the Great Northern Hotel," explains Sean, former manager of The Top Shop. "It used to be a milk bar. It used to be a petrol station, convenience store. It's kind of shifted hands over the years and taken on different forms."

Today, the cafe embodies Byron Bay's unique blend of laid-back surf culture and premium food offerings: "The owners really wanted to highlight a lot of the really good local produce and local suppliers that we have around here. So our beef patties for our burgers come from cows right over the hill, macadamias, macadamia milk, a lot of great fresh fruit and veg."

A Crowd Pleaser with Character

The Top Shop prides itself on catering to Byron's eclectic community and visitors alike.

"The average customer at Topshop is a pretty wide range. Everything from young families to older people, teenagers, everything. But we get some characters in here every now and then. People giving clearly fake names. Not entirely sure why. Maybe it's real. It's hard to say here."

This diversity of clientele is matched by their comprehensive menu offerings: "In one sentence, we are the ultimate crowd pleaser to cure everything from a hangover to the early morning caffeine blues to just getting the kids fed and out the door."

From Shouts to Serenity

Before implementing me&u, The Top Shop faced a challenge common to busy cafes – a noisy ordering system that disrupted the relaxed atmosphere they wanted to create.

"Top Shop's a very busy little cafe, and the big problem that we had here was the incessant yelling down at the end of the counter to the point where we really startled a lot of people. Thank you, Guava. Coffee's up for Rainbow. Thank you, Ocean. Your coffee's up. Danger. Danger. Coffee's up for danger. And I said something had to be done about this."

The solution came in the form of me&u's ordering platform: "We've rolled it out, and now it's a nice, relaxing spot that you'd hope you'd have in Byron Bay."

Enhancing the Beach Experience

The implementation of me&u has particularly benefited customers coming straight from the surf, allowing them to maintain that post-beach relaxation.

"We've now been able to tamp that down, give people the option to just order from sitting out on the grass, especially if you're feeling pretty average coming out of the surf. Lean over, order a coffee and some chips or whatever you need to cure you and just have it be brought to you."

This approach resonates with The Top Shop's philosophy: "We wanted to have casual, really good quality food, but you can just come up from the surf, get a good bite to eat, and not feel like you were polluting yourself."

Targeted Marketing for Dietary Needs

The Top Shop takes particular pride in catering to diverse dietary requirements, and me&u's Connect platform is helping them reach these specific customer segments.

"Working on some new marketing type stuff at the moment to be able to segment out our customers that may be real kind of health conscious, vegan, gluten free, that sort of thing. Being celiac conscious, we have a separate fryer, separate oil, treats just for people who are gluten free."

The data-driven approach is already showing promise: "So to be able to market through Connect to some of our customers, to remind them to say that we can cater to everything from the hardcore carnivores to the vegans to gluten-free, whatever it is in between, and to be able to have targeted marketing is going to be phenomenal for us."

A Supportive Implementation

The cafe appreciated me&u's hands-on approach to training and support during implementation.

"They've been fantastic. We've got people up in the Gold Coast to come down and do training with the staff here, get them interested, getting them understanding how to best use the platform. The team on the other end has just been here to help us along the way. It's been fantastic."

A No-brainer for Hospitality

For Sean, the decision to implement me&u is straightforward for any venue looking to improve customer experience:

"To give customers options when there generally is none, to eliminate queues or to tamp down queues, to give people convenience of getting stuff takeaway or just brought to them so they can relax and enjoy your venue as much as possible, you'd be foolish not to pursue it. It's fantastic."

Surf Culture Meets Smart Technology

The Top Shop demonstrates how even the most traditional local institutions can embrace technology to enhance rather than detract from their unique atmosphere. By implementing me&u's ordering platform, they've created a more relaxed experience that perfectly complements Byron Bay's laid-back surf culture.