Got Labor Day plans? I hope they involve grilling. For most folks, they’ll almost inevitably involve a restaurant, too, and an increasing number of people will get their restaurant food delivered instead of piling into the car and heading to the actual establishment.
With that in mind, here’s a quick look at what went down this week in restaurant tech, from the latest delivery deals to new devices to Yelp making yet-another incremental update to its offerings.
McDonald’s Expands DoorDash Delivery Program
This week, McDonald’s announced it’s taking its DoorDash deal national. The news follows a successful pilot by the two companies started in July in Houston, TX, which also officially ended McDonald’s exclusive contract with Uber Eats. DoorDash is not just the number one delivery service in terms of market share right now, it’s also king of the ‘burbs, with substantial reach across the entire U.S. An expanded partnership with the service means more than 10,000 of McDonald’s roughly 14,000 locations the ability to deliver, and to also offer more than one delivery service to customers.
Dunkin’ Doubles Down on Integrated Delivery
The week also saw delivery news from Dunkin’, another QSR aggressively expanding its delivery strategy. Following June’s news that the chain had teamed up with Grubhub to deliver in New York City, Hospitality Tech reported this week that Dunkin’ plans to expand its delivery program to “major U.S. markets by year’s end. A key part of this expansion will be integrated delivery — that is, integrating orders from third-party delivery services directly into the POS at Dunkin’ Stores, which is fast becoming the standard for deals between restaurants and delivery services. As I say way too often, delivery is table stakes for restaurants nowadays. Pretty soon integrated delivery will be, too.
Shift4 Unveils a Tabletop POS for Restaurants
Back inside the dining room, Shift4 Payments, who makes a payment processing solution for the hospitality industry, introduced yet-another device to the restaurant biz this week. Tableside is just as its name suggests: a tablet device integrated with POS software guests can use to order and pay for food without the need of a server. Shift4, whose customers include major chains like Denny’s, Outback Steakhouse, and Carrabba’s, said in the press release this week that Tableside will make for more efficient front-of-house operations and the ability to serve more customers faster.
Yelp Adds More Personalization Features to App
Yelp this week announced new personalization features that provide in-app experiences to users based on their personal preferences like dietary restrictions, interests, and favorite foods. Basically, it the new features mean a vegetarian and a meat lover could be standing on the same corner of San Francisco and each looking at a completely different version of the Yelp app to help them choose a restaurant. Yelp users can filter based on food preferences and activities they like as well as by requirements like wheelchair accessibility, gender-neutral restrooms, and other factors that all contribute to a person’s overall restaurant experience.
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