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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Paytronix

Report: Consumers Spent $486B on Takeout in 2020

Consumers spent $769 billion ordering food from restaurants last year, according to a new report from Paytronix and PYMTS. Takeout orders accounted for $486 billion, or 63 percent. of those sales. 

The report, based on a survey of U.S. consumers, is the latest in Paytronix’ ongoing “Delivering on Restaurant Rewards” series. Paytronix, of course, has skin in the game, it being a restaurant-tech company that specializes in digital ordering and payments solutions. That said, the report’s findings that underscore the popularity of takeout and digital ordering line up with other statistics we have seen over the last few months around the future of these ordering and eating formats.

Online ordering drove the majority of takeout orders in 2020, according to the Paytronix report. A total of 89 percent of consumers said they had placed their takeout order via a digital channel, such as an app, a website, or a third-party aggregator (e.g., DoorDash). The majority of those meals ordered digitally were from restaurants that, prior to the pandemic, had only ever offered dine-in service. “Our research shows that $264 billion, or 61 percent, of the $435 billion consumers spent on online food orders in 2020 was spent at restaurants that had only offered sit-down dining services prior to the outbreak,” notes the report. 

Consumers also spent “50 percent more on average” when they placed takeout orders through digital channels.

Putting a takeout strategy in place was one of the first pieces of advice for restaurants to be widely circulated at the start of lockdowns last year. Takeout offered a way for restaurants to reach customers without serving them in the dining room, and could be done without coughing up the hefty commission fees third-party delivery services charge restaurants on delivery orders. For customers, too, takeout provided an often cheaper option, since they didn’t have to pay the service fees associated with delivery orders. 

None of those factors are any less important now that we’re a year into this pandemic and restaurants have resumed (some) dine-in service. In fact, the future of the dining room is kind of a giant question mark right now, and restaurants are encouraged to continue building out a robust to-go business. Takeout is still arguably the most important part of those strategies. 

Order for Me’s Contactless Restaurant Tech Lets You Split the Check — Among Other New Features

If there was an official buzzword of the pandemic-era restaurant, it would be “contactless.” But as is the case with any technology that becomes an overnight trend, there are now so many contactless restaurant tech solutions available it is getting hard to tell them apart. That means the next few months will see these companies introducing new features in a bid to make their products stand out. One such is Order for Me, a Los Angeles-based company that offers contactless tech for dine-in and takeout service.

The system uses QR code technology, where users can enter the table code or scan it with their own device and subsequently pull up the menu. Like other contactless systems out there, Order for Me lets customers view that menu, order items, and pay for them from their own mobile devices. 

At this point, such features are table stakes in the contactless dining room game, and so Order for Me has taken its system one step further. Users can also keep the bill open — the virtual equivalent of a “tab” — until they are ready to pay for the entire meal, which might include an impulse purchase like dessert or a second (or fifth) cocktail partway through the meal. Order for Me also lets guests split the check and tip, so that each person can pay their share via their own mobile device. All of this is done through a patent-pending ordering technology, according to an email sent to The Spoon. 

While the ability to wait until the end of the meal to pay and tip might at first seem a small development in the world of the contactless restaurant, it actually has huge implications, especially in the dining room. The features allow for potentially bigger tickets for restaurants, which need all the help they can get right now in this time of reduced dining room capacity.

For servers, these features could also lead to higher tips. While anecdotal evidence, a server I know commented recently that he rarely gets anything above 15 percent with his restaurant’s contactless payment system because guests are tipping before the meal actually arrives or they’ve had any real chance to interact with him. That’s a rough lot for servers if they’re getting 15 percent no matter how well they do their jobs — jobs that might disappear if the restaurant closes because of a pandemic.

The other notable restaurant tech company offering customers the ability to keep a tab open is Paytronix, which raised $10 million earlier this year and announced its contactless software for the dining room in June. 

So far, Order for Me is the only system we know of that also allows guests to split the bill. But given the way tech trends evolve, it’s only a matter of time before other restaurant tech systems incorporate that feature into their own systems. 

Bbot Raises $3M for Its Contactless Restaurant Tech Solution

NYC-based restaurant tech company Bbot today announced a $3 million seed funding round led by Craft Ventures. The company says it will use the new funds to hire up and expand its reach and product capabilities, according to a press release sent to The Spoon.

Bbot, which was founded in 2017, was ahead of the times when it originally launched its mobile order and pay platform that emphasizes contactless functionality and minimizes human-to-human contact in restaurants and bars. The system integrates directly with a restaurant or bar’s existing tech setup. Customers use their own phones to scan a QR code (usually placed on a decal on the table) and browse the menu, as well as order and pay for food. 

Bbot points to a number of different advantages with this setup. Most obviously, contactless features in the dining room makes it easier for restaurants to foster social distancing among customers and staff. It also more or less forces restaurants to have at least some digital presence, which is becoming increasingly mandatory these days. Bbot also says the system can increase revenue for the restaurant, and that some of its existing clients have seen a 15 percent lift thanks to the system.

While that’s an encouraging figure, the challenge right now for any restaurant tech is two-fold. First is the sheer amount of competition in the restaurant tech space — particularly when it comes to the consumer-facing side of things. As I said earlier, companies that formerly served the front of house are now racing to find new ways to stay relevant. So far, that’s been through contactless dining kits a la Paytronix, Zuppler, Presto, and many others. 

The other part of the challenge is that the state of restaurant dining rooms remains uncertain, to put it mildly. Some states and/or individual businesses are halting or reversing their reopening plans, thanks to a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, and businesses are being encouraged to continue their focus off-premises orders.

On that latter note, Bbot has an advantage in that its system is designed to work for any type of restaurant setting, including the off-premises ones. That ability to translate across restaurant formats plus its early entry into the contactless space may give Bbot a greater advantage over the competition, even if dining rooms don’t reopen the way we thought they would.

Sevenrooms Raises $50M Series B Funding for Its Data-Driven Restaurant Tech Platform

Restaurant tech company Sevenrooms has raised $50 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Providence Strategic Growth and brings Sevenrooms’ total funding to $71.5 million. According to a press release sent to The Spoon, Sevenrooms will use the new funds to “further enhance” its restaurant guest-management platform as well as continue expanding globally. 

Sevenrooms, which was founded in 2011, has over time evolved from a reservations platform to a full suite of front-of-house tools that nowadays includes some pandemic-friendly features like contactless ordering and payments. The company continues to offer its reservations system, as well as waitlist and table management tools, marketing automation, and online ordering. Pre-pandemic, Sevenrooms was exploring voice-enabled restaurant tech as well as data-driven personalization.  

Like other front-of-house-focused restaurant tech companies, Sevenrooms quickly reacted to the COVID-19 crisis and the dining room shutdowns that followed. At no extra cost, it launched its DirectDelivery feature, which gives restaurants more ownership over their customers data on delivery order. The company also recently released its version of the contactless dining kit, meant to equip freshly reopened restaurant dining rooms with more contactless solutions, from order and pay technologies to digital menus. 

Others have made similar moves recently. In fact most restaurant tech companies — Presto, Zuppler, Paytronix, etc. — are offering enhancements to their platforms that emphasize contactless tools for the restaurant dining room.

Standing out from the masses will be the biggest challenge for all of these companies. Sevenrooms’ previous work around voice tech and personalization would give it a push in a somewhat unique direction. Its continued focus on giving restaurants more control over customer data will also be an important asset for the company going forward as digital properties become the restaurant experience, rather than an add-on sales channel.

Sevenrooms Is the Latest Restaurant Tech Company Serving Up Contactless Order and Pay Features

Restaurant guest management platform Sevenrooms today released a Contactless Order & Pay system for restaurants as businesses get set to reopen under new social distancing guidelines and regulations. The new system “aims to ease consumer hesitation around dining out,” according to an email sent to The Spoon.

Since Sevenrooms is first and foremost a tech company, it will obviously be using technology to minimize person-to-person contact in an effort to make dining rooms safer places once they reopen. 

The new contactless system includes a digital menu as well as ordering and payment functionality customers can access with their own devices by one of three ways: scanning a QR code, using near-field communication (NFC), or going to a URL. Importantly, there is no need for customers to download any additional apps, something that would only add confusion and extra steps to the process. 

Ideally, this setup will mean restaurants do not have to hand physical menus out to guests, and that items like order tickets and credit cards won’t pass from one person to the next, potentially spreading infectious germs along the way.

The idea isn’t specific to Sevenrooms. In its reopening guidelines for restaurants, the National Restaurant Association said that “Contactless payment systems, automated ordering systems, mobile ordering apps, website updates and simple texts can help you to communicate and conduct business with reduced need for close contact.”

Other industry figures agree. Seated cofounder and chairman Bo Peabody, who also sits on the task force in charge of restaurant reopening guidelines for the state of Georgia, told me recently that contactless payments are one of the most important pieces of tech a restaurant can invest in right now and that by the end of next year, “putting your credit card down will be a thing of the past.”

He added, however, that most restaurants right now are not equipped to easily switch to contactless ordering and payments. Making the process of adoption easier and affordable will be a major factor restaurant tech companies like Sevenrooms must consider if they truly want to help restaurants through the reopening process. 

Sevenrooms joins other restaurant tech companies pivoting to offer contactless order and payment capabilities. This week, Presto released its own version of a contactless order and pay tech bundle. Paytronix, which raised $10 million in April, has also added an online order platform and touchless payments to its tech stack. 

A subject we land on frequently these days is exactly how relevant will front-of-house restaurant tech companies be as more dining rooms reopen with limited seating capacity and consumers cautiously venture out to eat. The growing number of companies offering contactless order and payment options makes me think that the debate isn’t around whether these companies will remain relevant. Rather, the ones that can present restaurants with the most helpful, hassle-free ways to go contactless will be the ones the industry finds most valuable going forward. 

Paytronix Raises $10M for Its Restaurant Guest Management Platform

Restaurant guest management platform Paytronix Systems announced today it had raised a $10 million round of fresh funding. The round was led by Great Hill Partners and Paytronix cofounders Matt d’Arbeloff and Andrew Robbins, according to a press release sent to The Spoon. This brings Paytronix’ total funding to $75 million.

The company said the funding is “designed to ensure that Paytronix is on sound financial footing and will continue to provide its restaurant, convenience-store, grocery, and retail clients with the communications tools necessary during this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.” 

The Paytronix platform offers a number of different solutions restaurants can add to their tech stacks, including loyalty program capabilities, custom mobile apps, messaging, and data analytics. Its software integrates with most of the major POS systems, and the company counts California Pizza Kitchen, Bloomin’ Brands, and restaurant group Lettuce Entertain You among its clients. 

Many of those brands, not to mention independent restaurants, are feeling the strain imposed by COVID-19 and the accompanying dining room shutdowns. And while we’ve called into question the value of certain restaurant tech solutions at a time when businesses need to cut back to necessary tools only, what we can count on is that some tech will be necessary for restaurants to both survive the pandemic and function once the world settles into its new normal.

Paytronix — whose website actually reads “slim down your tech stack — recently released a number of features that seem geared towards that particular approach to restaurant tech. The company now offers an online ordering platform that integrates with both POS systems and third-party delivery platforms. Even more important in these pandemic times, restaurants can now set up touchless payments through Google Wallet and Apple Pay integrations. 

Contactless payments, in particular, will be an important technology for restaurants of all sizes going forward. Bo Peabody, who sits on the task force that created the reopening guidelines for the state of Georgia’s restaurants, recently told me that it’s one of the most important pieces of tech a restaurant should consider right now. He went as far as to say that by the end of next year, “putting your credit card down will be a thing of the past.”  

Whether or not that will actually happen, we’re likely going to see many more guidelines around restaurant reopenings for the rest of the year, some of them focused on the most useful technology businesses can implement in this weird, uncertain time. Patyronix, with this new round, looks to be positioning itself as close to the center of that usefulness as it can get.

Here’s a Rundown of Restaurant Tech Deals Available to Struggling Businesses

As more restaurants are forced to pivot to off-premises models in the fight to stay alive, it seems more tech companies are coming to market with hardware and/or software meant to speed up, simplify, automate, and more efficiently manage delivery. And in the spirit of simplifying things, I’ve rounded up a number of those solutions here that address different parts of the off-premises model. 

Just remember: there are tech solutions that solve problems and, as a friend of mine once said, tech solutions in search of problems. Reduced fees or no, not every product or service is going to be useful, and what improves one restaurant’s business could be a total distraction for another.

Order-ahead app Allset has a contactless pickup option at participating restaurants. For all existing restaurant partners that provide the contactless pickup option at their stores, the company is waiving commission fees.

Delivery orchestration platform Bringg launched its BringgNow feature months ahead of schedule. The new feature helps larger chain restaurants, among other businesses, manage delivery orders, track drivers, make last-minute adjustments, and integrate with third-party platforms. BringgNow is free to new users at this time.

Chowly, whose tech helps manage delivery orders, is offering a “no cost” starter package to businesses needing to quickly pivot to delivery models as more cities and states shut down dining rooms.

DailyPay, an app that lets restaurant workers access their earnings immediately, has waived all access fees so that individuals using the service can get their earned income immediately. 

POS and guest management software platform Epicuri is waiving set up fees and offering a 60-day free trial with no commitment for restaurants right now.

Paytronix just launched a new cloud-based solution that lets restaurants add online ordering and delivery to their existing POS systems and, for those who want to conduct delivery in-house, integrate with DoorDash.

Presto is giving away free self-service kiosks that at this point can be used for pickup orders. In an email to The Spoon, the company also said it is also “offering Presto Quick Serve drive-thru kiosks, staff handhelds, and smartwatches completely free.”

Ordermark, a software-hardware platform that streamlines the process of accepting, managing, and fulfilling delivery orders, is waiving all setup fees right now, according to an email sent to The Spoon.

Restaurant order management platform Revention is offering an Online Ordering and Delivery Starter Bundle for a reduced price. It includes a POS terminal, optional DoorDash on-demand delivery service, and remote installation.

Guest management platform Sevenrooms now offers a feature called Direct Delivery that gives restaurants more ownership over their customer data on delivery and takeout orders. For the next 90 days, existing and prospective Sevenrooms customers can add the feature on at no extra cost. 

End-to-end platform Toast has eliminated software fees for restaurant customers for the next month and will provide those customers with free access to its digital ordering, marketing, and gift card programs for three months. 

Operations platform Zenput says it is “offering operators that are new to Zenput – at no charge or obligation through the end of June 2020 – the ability to use our platform to build-out, communicate, and ensure compliance with their COVID-19 processes.”

Online food ordering platform Zuppler is offering free setup and reduced pricing for restaurants and caterers who want to add online or Google ordering to their websites.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll know more about which products and services are most beneficial to restaurants trying to survive the current situation in which the industry finds itself. In the meantime, drop us a line if you know a company or product you think should be on this list.