Pizza Today - November 2021 - 32

concepts to an opportunity to accelerate
tech trends, fast-track transformation
and re-imagine operations, " says Shyam
Rao, co-founder and CEO of Punchh, a
popular restaurant platform that blends
relationship management, loyalty and
analytics.
Simplifying operations
In particular, restaurants have increasingly
explored ways they might leverage
technology to drive guest satisfaction
and simplify carryout and delivery
processes.
Rao, whose company works with
some 200 top restaurant brands, has
noticed restaurants unveil self-service
kiosks, automated checkout counters
and smart locker solutions designed to
accelerate getting orders into customers'
hands while freeing up staff. Meanwhile,
Menufy co-founder Hoang Nguyen tells
Pizza Today that his firm, which provides
online ordering for independent
eateries and small chains across the U.S.,
is currently developing a feature that
will enable restaurants to assign a pickup
slot for online orders so that customers
and delivery drivers can grab their order
from a designated shelf or counter spot
upon arrival.
Revel's Lybeer also notes the growing
by Galbani®
Tigrato®
Cut Shreds
Get your pizza business in the best
shape ever with Galbani Premio
Mozzarella featuring Tigrato Cut
Shreds. This exclusive cut is
shorter and wider than standard
shreds, providing a uniform melt
with better coverage-so you can
top more pies with less cheese.
Plus, it has exceptional yield and
reheats beautifully for takeout and
delivery. Put TigratoCut Shreds
to the test and see why nobody
tops Italy's #
1 cheese brand.
adoption of order-ready boards. These
on-site display boards provide fully
branded visual and color-coded order
information for customers with realtime
status updates on their order.
" With the capacity to directly connect
to the kitchen display and point-of-sale
systems, [these boards] create greater
order efficiencies for restaurants and
their customers, " Lybeer says.
Escaping third-party's grip
Though many pizzerias embraced
third-party delivery as an important
lifeline during the pandemic, that readymade
solution came with a cost, namely
high commission fees and relinquishing
customer data. Those downsides
prompted many to embrace tech for
mobile ordering, curbside solutions and
in-house delivery programs to minimize
@GalbaniProfessionaleUS
©2021 Lactalis American Group, Inc., Buffalo, NY 14420.
Galbani is a® of Egidio Galbani S.r.l.
reliance on third-party delivery.
" This helps [restaurants] retain
branding and data control and reduce
customer confusion by offering a direct
point of contact for issues, " Lybeer says.
" The more entities involved in an order,
the more risk there is of a bad customer
experience. "
Punchh Pickup, for example, allows
operators to manage pickup orders
from a customizable web-based console,
providing real-time location and arrival
estimates that enable clear, automated
communication with customers through
a personalized mobile and web experience.
This, Rao says, helps restaurants
" create that frictionless, end-to-end
pickup experience for customers and
employees in-store, at the curb or at the
counter. "
Seamless solutions
In adding tech, savvy restaurant
operators are also seeking solutions
that either offer various capabilities in a
single system or can be easily integrated
with other offerings.
To that point, Delivery XT from
Revel provides a logistical solution
for driver and delivery management
that helps restaurants strengthen their
delivery service from their Revel POS.
Key features include live delivery tracking,
customer notifications, a driver app
for delivery fulfillment and live driver
monitoring.
For restaurants wanting to maintain
their own branded online ordering, carryout
and delivery systems, tech integration
isn't merely important, it's necessary.
Automatically printing an online order
to the kitchen printer, for instance, can
accelerate fulfillment time and reduces
the risk of human error.
" It is increasingly imperative that
businesses have a future-proof, transactional
platform with an open API that
can rapidly integrate new core and partner
technologies as they are embraced
by the market and consumers, " Lybeer
says. n
DANIEL P. SMITH Chicago-based
writer has covered business issues and best
practices for a variety of trade publications,
newspapers, and magazines.
https://www.lactalisculinary.com/brands/galbani/
Pizza Today - November 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pizza Today - November 2021
