e-guma meets Japan!

The Sala of Tokyo has been taking its guests on an extraordinary journey into the world of traditional Japanese cuisine since 1981.

Since 2021, guests and friends of the Sala of Tokyo have been able to gift and book these special culinary experiences via the e-guma voucher and ticket system.

In the following interview with Lorenz Muster, owner of the Sala of Tokyo restaurant, find out his feelings and experience of e-guma in terms of the system implementation and day-to-day work.

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Facts Sala of Tokyo

Interview with Lorenz Muster, owner of Sala of Tokyo

For Sala of Tokyo, voucher sales are a welcome source of additional income. The vouchers are a great way for guests to treat their loved ones. And e-guma makes the whole sales process much easier – both for the restaurant and for its guests. Find out more about the integration of the e-guma voucher and ticket system in Switzerland’s oldest Japanese restaurant in the following interview.

How did you handle voucher sales before you started working with e-guma?

«Before we worked with the e-guma voucher system, we issued our vouchers ourselves. However, issuing and sending the vouchers is very time-consuming. Then there are the unpaid accounts receivable, voucher lists that are not always up to date, employees who withdraw partial amounts when the entire amount of the voucher has not been used, and so on. Without a good voucher system, voucher administration and handling is tedious throughout the entire process.»

Which factors were important to you when looking for a suitable voucher system?

«We just wanted something that worked well. It had to be easy for our guests, but also for us. For our guests, the e-guma voucher system is a very simple solution. They can simply go to our online shop, order the voucher they want, pay how they like and then print it out directly.
And how the back office is handled suits us. In the end, everything works just right, including the invoices. Of course, another plus is the ticket system that goes with it, which we like to use for our events. It’s just brilliant!»

e-guma ticket system

What has made your work the easiest?

«Guests used to call us and ask if they could still pick up a voucher. Then we had to wait in the restaurant to see if anyone else was coming or not. Today, we no longer print and send the vouchers ourselves, but we can give customers a print@home option thanks to our e-guma voucher shop. This means that our guests can print out their order at home straight away and potentially gift it the same evening. Or they can send it by email. That saves us a lot of stress.»

Sell vouchers online

And what is the most important function of the voucher system for you?

«For me personally, I love the fact that the invoices are always correct. We used to have to enter the voucher list manually and there were always, always errors. Sometimes one got lost, sometimes a voucher number was incorrect. We worked with an Excel list, but the margin for error was still high.
For me, the most important thing about e-guma is that it has stopped the errors at the source and I no longer have to chase unpaid invoices. Unfortunately, in the past, I’d find that again and again orders hadn’t been paid for, which was of course very frustrating.»

Manage and invoice vouchers

How did you find familiarising yourself with it?

«It was really easy. The e-guma team did a great job setting up the shop and you also have great support in the background. Familiarisation really wasn’t a problem.»

And what’s your experience like with e-guma in everyday life?

«The nice thing for me is that I no longer have anything to do with all the voucher sales. At the end of the month, I simply send the list to our accountant or they log in themselves and have everything they need.

For me, e-guma is now like a credit card. Guests download their orders from the online shop themselves, send and gift the vouchers however they like, and they are then redeemed via the app. We simply scan the vouchers and if there is a balance left over, it remains on the voucher. We don’t have to write anything down or transfer it at the till. It’s all super easy and really well organised.

And have we sold more vouchers with e-guma? Things aren’t crazy any more, and sales have already increased. Especially because the vouchers can now be purchased 24/7 via the online shop. And the amazing thing is that guests don’t ask me so often whether they can buy vouchers from us; they find what we offer on our website itself.»

Redeem vouchers easily

Do you advertise your vouchers?

«We often display notices about our vouchers in the toilets and sometimes we also have promotional flyers in our invoice blocks.

During the Christmas period, we usually offer a small discount on our vouchers on one day. Lots of regular guests buy vouchers for themselves, but every voucher sale helps and we can give our guests and regular customers a treat, which is also nice.»

Successfully advertise vouchers

What is your experience of our support team?

«Extremely good. I have also given you a 5 star rating and am mega happy. Customer service is fast, you always get help and any adjustments are implemented immediately. Really super professional.»

Who would you recommend e-guma to?

«All restaurateurs who want to make their work easier. Any company that doesn’t manage its voucher system in a professional manner using a system like this will have issues with their voucher list. That’s why I recommend e-guma to every restaurateur who wants to get the money in their account instead of constantly chasing it. I recommend it to anyone who wants to sell more vouchers and offer their customers a modern system. Also to anyone who wants good support. I can recommend the system all round.»