Geoff Alexander is a leader in mergers—not of brands or restaurants groups, but of hospitality and technology. Among other things, the Wow Bao president saw the potential in partnership between the fast-casual brand and San Francisco-based technology company Brightbloom, formerly Eatsa.
With Chicago-based LEYE since 1993 and Wow Bao since 2009, Alexander has been an eager adopter and early implementor of technology into the companies’ restaurant concepts. As president of Wow Bao, Alexander has led the Asian micro-chain’s expansion into an array of non-traditional locations—from airports to college campuses and more—spearheaded the implementation of on-site ordering kiosks and mobile ordering, and led the launch of a frozen retail line.
But perhaps his most notable impact has been the launch of a start-to-finish digital dining experience at select Wow Bao locations.
At Wow Bao’s two fully automated ordering and pickup locations in Chicago, mobile orders or orders placed on-premise via kiosks are prepared by hidden back-of-the-house staff who put completed orders in personalized animated LED-lit cubbies that display the guest’s name when the order is ready for pick-up.
The result is a streamlined hospitality experience, one that delivers a quick, convenient and consistent meal without ever having to interact with a fallible human. Brightloom, in their first partnership with a restaurant, provides the proprietary mobile order app that is a key component of Wow Bao’s streamlined ordering experience—and Alexander gets the credit.