Welcome to First Bite, a Nation’s Restaurant News podcast, your daily source of news from NRN hosted by Holly Petre.
Today, we’re talking about new restaurant technology.
As customers demand more digital technology engagement from their favorite restaurants — even neighborhood spots — tech vendors are rapidly adding more bells and whistles to their repertoire to keep up with changing consumer needs.
This month, two digital tech upstarts — Lunchbox and Thanx — have released new versions of their online ordering and loyalty software and are well on their way toward becoming end-to-end solutions for operators. While we can’t advise operators on how to build their tech stack, we can break down how these new features work.
Speaking of tech platform upgrades-- several third-party companies are adding reservation capabilities to their repertoire, including DoorDash and Uber, plus Pepsi is rolling out ghost kitchen tool capabilities, begging the question: “just how many companies are trying to cash in on the burgeoning digital tech solutions industry?”
Tech Tracker rounds up what’s happening in the technology sector of the restaurant industry including news from restaurants, vendors, digital platforms, and third-party delivery companies. Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know and why:
Uber, DoorDash and SpotOn are now taking restaurant reservations
In the restaurant tech world, keeping up with Joneses has come to mean “make sure you’re adding the same features as your competitors.” This month, three different tech platforms added reservation-making capabilities to their suite of tech bells and whistles. As a result, lines are beginning to blur between reservation stalwarts like OpenTable and Yelp and other software vendors.
Here's part 1 of our Tech Tracker report with Joanna Fantozzi.
Plus, catch up on all the top news of the day with our daily news recap at the beginning of each episode.
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