The top five restaurant tech stories grabbing attention at Hospitality Technology
illustrate how restaurants are reacting to digital disruption and the technologies they’re piloting today.
5. Dunkin’ Sharpens Focus on Digital Initiatives
Digital initiatives top the to-do lists for many operators as the dine-at-home trend, including mobile ordering and third-party delivery, take hold. This story
about Dunkin’ piqued interest of HT’s restaurant readers. Dunkin’ is keeping a watchful eye on the future and recently announced that it had acquired a perpetual license to the code that runs the Dunkin' mobile app, which CEO David Hoffman described as “the backbone” to the brand’s digital initiatives including mobile ordering. The move enables Dunkin’ “to be faster to market and more flexible with our digital initiatives,” he said.
Plus: A look at Dunkin’s Next-Gen concept. Read more:
https://hospitalitytech.com/dunkin-sharpens-focus-digital-initiatives
4. Building Blocks for Restaurant of the Future
Restaurants need to consider infrastructure and innovation changes that will position them for the next-generation of digital dining as shifting dynamics are driving restaurant sales to skyrocket despite reports of dwindling foot traffic.
This article details what industry leaders are doing now to be ready for tomorrow.
https://hospitalitytech.com/building-blocks-restaurant-future
3. Sonic Drive-In to Pilot Voice AI-Powered Ordering, Dynamic Menus
Machine learning holds a lot of promise to help streamline operations and reduce friction for QSRs and their customers, especially in the drive-thru. This story
details how Mastercard and Zivelo teamed up to create the tech -- dynamic menus and AI-powered voice ordering -- that Sonic Drive-In will begin piloting at select locations later this year. Read more:
https://hospitalitytech.com/sonic-drive-pilot-voice-ai-powered-ordering-dynamic-menus
2. McDonald’s Tests AI-Powered Digital Menu Boards
Global QSR and technology innovator McDonald’s made a splash when it purchased machine learning Dynamic Yield earlier this year. It made a second splash when it rolled out AI-driven menu boards to 700 US locations. Here’s the gist: overtime the tech will become smarter through machine learning, "and using the data collected based on current restaurant traffic at the drive-thru, the technology will begin to suggest items that can make peak times easier on our restaurant operations and crew,” explained President and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Easterbrook, in an April 30 earnings call with analysts.
Read more about this exciting advancement here:
https://hospitalitytech.com/mcdonalds-tests-ai-powered-digital-menu-boards
1. Rapid-Fire Growth
This article about the MOD Pizza chain was the most-read restaurant article in May and for good reason. Robert Notte, vice president of IT, shared how the fastest-growing chain in the US focuses on scaling an intelligent infrastructure. In this May 2019 cover story from
Hospitality Technology magazine, Notte shared his three main objectives since joining MOD Pizza in 2018. Read more at
https://hospitalitytech.com/rapid-fire-growth
