Slice is on the receiving end of a big block of mozzarella as two former Twitter execs joined the Cross Creek investment firm on a $40 million Series D funding round to help the New York-based pizza-focused delivery service kick off its latest round of growth.
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Some lucky customers in Texas can now get a fully automated robot delivery from Domino’s. In the real-world launch of a partnership we covered last year, the pizza giant and automation partner Nuro are finally doing real-world testing of automated deliveries. The test will be limited to a single location in in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston. Customers ordering and pre-paying for their meals will be asked if they would like their order delivered by Nuro’s R2 Robot. Domino’s wouldn’t divulge specifics, but a representative said there would be […]
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During the FOD Tech Stack panel focused on low-friction order handoffs, Del Taco, Apex Supply Chain and CardFree shared creative high-tech and non-tech solutions to increase volume and ease the ordering process for consumers.
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Take one look at the ecommerce marketing world and you’ll see a frightening amount of data at work. One search for socks follows you to the very ends of the earth. The restaurant industry is playing catch-up on big consumer data, but the massive shift to digital ordering has accelerated that dramatically. During a panel discussion with Food On Demand, two marketing vendors with a handle on big, big data discussed how the marketing end of the restaurant sales funnel is getting digitized. “Hospitality at its core is understating who […]
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High-touch, hospitality-minded restaurant folks are more than ready to bring people back into restaurants. But the founders behind delivery-only virtual restaurant brand Stay’d are looking to bring some of that high-touch hospitality to the delivery experience. Compared to a great restaurant, delivery can be a bit of a hollow experience no matter how good the food is. As many restaurant operators lament, it’s an experience largely dictated by whoever shows up to take the delivery. “I don’t necessarily like not controlling the whole process,” said Jeff Castillo, CEO of Maadaadizi […]
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Ghoster is the latest early-stage virtual restaurant provider promising that a focus on operations and technology will make the difference for restaurants bringing new brands into their kitchens.
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Fast-casual franchise Saladworks is partnering with Ghost Kitchen Brands to open in dozens of non-traditional locations by the end of 2021, many of which will be inside Walmart stores.
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Tock, the restaurant reservation platform that moved into carryout and events, has been acquired by website and ecommerce platform Squarespace in a $400 million mix of cash and stock.
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Chipotle has invested in Nuro, a California-based autonomous vehicle manufacturer that’s been making news ever since its founding in 2016. Known for delivery vehicles that are similar to Smart cars, it has tested deliveries with Domino’s, grocery stores and others, and it’s also among the few road-based autonomous vehicle companies with regulatory approval to operate on roads and, in some cases, on bike lanes in the United States Nuro’s vehicles typically drive right up to the customer’s curb, alert them upon arrival and make their goods available by opening a […]
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Self-delivery remains a tricky concept for the majority of restaurant operators. Many, especially independents, are reluctant to hire drivers, deal with the overhead and manage the technology layer necessary to give consumers what they’re used to from ecommerce. It was something we admittedly glossed over in our February exploration of the delivery balance sheet. For much of the industry, a true in-house delivery program can be more headache than it’s worth. Even after the pandemic surge, there’s not enough delivery to support it. Blum pointed to a lot of new […]
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