Toast just announced three new integrations to its platform, a move that will make data analytics and mobile payment functionality available to even more restaurants using the platform.
Toast is more of a restaurant-management platform at this point than just a POS offering. In theory, at least, a restaurant could run entirely off the service, thanks in no small part to the number of integrations Toast does with popular restaurant software.
The new parters include:
Avero: Avero takes the data from Toast and analyzes it, giving the restaurant insight into things like inventory, food costs, and those ever-controversial server ratings.
GoParrot: Serving NYC-based chains like Dos Toros and Bareburger, GoParrot funnels its online orders straight into a restaurant’s Toast system, thereby cutting out the need for an employee to manually input that data. It also includes a marketing and loyalty platform.
Rooam: Payments software Rooam lets in-restaurant guests pay for their orders with a phone, without the restaurant needing any additional hardware to operate (e.g., chip readers). Like GoParrot, the plus here is that its cutting out an extra step for servers, in this case printing a check and delivering it to the table.
Toast raised a $115 million Series D funding round back in July, in part to “expand its footprint globally.” Since then, the company has continued to build out its partner network, most notably adding order- and inventory-tracking software BevSpot to the list.
The point of its partner network is to give restaurants of all shapes and sizes the option to build out a restaurant system based on their individual needs, be those inventory tracking, mobile payments, and tipping, among others. There’s overlap in terms of what these integrations offer (HotSchedules and PeachWorks both offer scheduling, for example), which can make the sheer number of options overwhelming to the untrained eye. To someone running a restaurant, though, it means there’s probably a greater chance you’ll find what you’re looking for in terms of all-in-one functionality.
It’s easy to see why Toast is conducting such an aggressive expansion. There’s a growing number of systems out there for restaurants to choose from, including TouchBistro, who recently raised $70 million, and Square, who recently launched a POS system.
Right now, Toast sets itself apart by being one of the few systems built for Android, which is considered more affordable and easier to use for most restaurants. That may change as the market gets more crowded. Throwing another Android-powered platform on the market won’t necessarily unseat Toast. They are, after all, an end-to-end solution that powers both front and back of house, something infinitely more possible to provide when you have a sizable partner network. That plus its Android-friendly nature will likely keep Toast ahead for quite some time.
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