Technology

5 underused technology capabilities for pizza brands

Photo by Adobe Stock.

February 8, 2023 by Chris Lybeer — Chief Strategy Officer, Revel Systems

Ingenuity and early adoption align with the pizza industry as far back as the 19th century, possibly even further. In case you're unfamiliar with the story of King Umberto and Queen

Margherita of Naples, Italy, the pair is credited with the first request for pizza delivery in 1889. It's certainly true that pizza inspires a certain creativity, whether with toppings and preparation methods or determining how to get this household favorite to the hungry masses faster, differently and with advanced technology.

With that said, just because a market segment is innovative doesn't mean it isn't leaving certain ideas untapped or underutilized. In this blog post I will highlight five technology capabilities in particular that I believe have great potential for driving both revenue and cost savings for pizza brands.

Native delivery

Third-party delivery has done an exceptional job with market exposure and penetration. I get it — if your patrons are already browsing marketplace listings on DoorDash and UberEats, your brand will want a piece of that pie! But if you're sleeping on an in-house delivery solution in favor of third-party only, I believe you are doing yourself a disservice.

Here's why: with a native solution, you get tight control of the consumer experience, direct access to consumer data and, importantly, full retention of profits on delivery orders. Those factors can make all the difference in your take-home profits for delivery orders, not to mention your customers' interest in ordering delivery from you again.

Hybrid delivery

This brings me to a second, and I think, even better option. Why not reap the benefits of both delivery styles: third-party and native? The online food delivery services market will surpass $97 billion by 2032, which reinforces that delivery demand isn't going anywhere.

A hybrid delivery method allows you to hire your own staff for the bulk of delivery orders, but to also use third parties for some orders. By taking orders on your own website and fulfilling the bulk of orders yourself, you can reduce fees and better manage the experience while maintaining flexibility when you need it, such as if a driver calls in sick or during slow times when keeping your own staff on the schedule doesn't make sense.

Meanwhile, if you are overwhelmed with in-house and first-party orders, third-party delivery can be throttled to allow for additional time for kitchen staff to catch up. Another angle here is to use in-house delivery on busy nights, perhaps Thursday through Sunday, and use third parties on slow nights.

Loyalty programs

According to research by marketing firm Kantar Worldpanel, 47% of U.S. consumers have used a loyalty program. If you're on the fence about offering a loyalty program, consider that there are tangible financial benefits to offering such programs beyond the positive sentiment they generate with your regular patrons.

For example, one of our multi-location clients saw a 31% increase in average customer spend through the use of segmented campaigns from a loyalty program CRM database. Separately, another enterprise client grew its customer database to more than 42,000 members in only six months after implementing an integrated loyalty program. Consider the fast growth potential for integrated loyalty alongside an increase of average customer spend between 10-35% for program members compared to non-members. Holding off on the implementation of a loyalty program can result in tens of thousands of unrealized dollars for your business each year.

Kitchen automation

Several solutions are widely available for kitchen automation, many of which route and integrate directly through the POS. Modern kitchen display systems (KDS) offer loads of beneficial functionality for kitchen staff and managing operators alike, with features like coursing, station assignments and reporting features.

Added perks that come with the KDS include increased cooking efficiency and reduced food waste. Through a time and motion study, one client saved a minute per order when using a KDS as opposed to paper tickets.

Other kitchen automation solutions include mobile device management (MDM), which allows operators to remotely monitor and update connected devices ranging from ticket printers to freezer temperatures and beyond. This can have major benefits not just for an operator's peace of mind, but also for health and safety standards as well as total overhead costs for kitchen utilities. Dollars and cents add up quickly to real long-term savings where kitchen automation is concerned.

Self-service solutions

There are tremendous advantages to incorporating self service solutions at your restaurant. And when I say self-service, I am speaking broadly, as anywhere a customer can self-navigate and lead their own experience — from online ordering to QR code transactions at a dine-in table — qualifies.

At a base level, self-service options tap into the human desire for independence. Don't get me wrong — guests may still wish to talk with restaurant staff about daily specials and what menu items they're most known for, but when it comes to placing an accurate order quickly, as well as when it comes time to pay the tab and leave, the autonomy of self-service solutions goes a long way for guest experience. Better still, it offsets some of your need for labor.

The cost of underutilizing technology

I've alluded to this a few times already throughout the blog post, but the true cost of underutilizing the technology at your disposal manifests in time and money. Are you using your tech stack to its full potential? Make time for a quick audit to uncover any areas that could be needle movers for your profit margins. In using all the tools available to you through your technology, you'll be continuing the pizza legacy of savvy innovation.

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Revel Systems is an open cloud order management platform at the heart of our clients’ business. Through flexible architecture and open API, Revel ensures brands have the freedom they need to design a full tech stack that meets their needs, enabling them to provide an unmatched customer experience, diversify revenue streams, and scale with ease.

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