SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -- Donatos Pizzeria Corporation has become the first retailer to select the new integrated m-commerce technology solution offered by Motorola, Inc. and Food.com.
According to a Motorola release, the initiative will enable Donatos' customers to purchase pizza and other goods through Web-enabled mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs.
The solution leverages Motorola's wireless mobile shopping technology and Food.com's patented Retail Ordering System platform.
Donatos is expected to make the service available in mid 2002 to customers at participating restaurants.
"We have been working with Food.com for more than three years providing our customers the ability to order online from their computers," said Ken Hoogstraal, executive director of restaurant technology for Donatos, based in Columbus, Ohio. "So when Food.com and Motorola approached us with their new offering, we were very excited."
Gary Leskun, director business development, Motorola's Internet Software and Content Group, said that this year, virtually every new cell phone produced will be capable of handling mobile commerce. "Pizza is one of the most logical products that consumers would want to order from a mobile device," he added.
The Web-ordering system allows consumers to set their preferences -- favorite items, pickup or delivery location, past orders, payment method -- online via an ordinary computer with Web access. Those preferences are stored on a server, which is accessed by the customer with just a few clicks on a mobile phone or PDA.
All communication is handled electronically, which according to Motorola, eliminates busy signals, being placed on hold and improves ordering accuracy since the customer inputs the data.
Jim Grote founded Donatos Pizzeria in 1963, and sold the company to McDonald's Corporation in 1999. Grote remains the 191-store chain's chairman, and oversees its operations in nine states.
Food.com was founded in 1996 as an online portal for restaurant ordering. Currently it's retail ordering system is used by more than 6,000 restaurants including major restaurant chains such as Papa Ginos, Pizzeria Uno and Olive Garden.
User Comments