latest posts

Paytronix Sees Digital Guest Experience Extending Beyond Restaurants

By Tom Kaiser | March 31, 2022

It’s getting easier to picture the next generation of dining as tech providers are bringing new features to loyalty and customer engagement.

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Reef Cheers Renewal of Miami Policy for Mobile Units

By Tom Kaiser | March 31, 2022

Miami renewed an ordinance regulating app-based delivery and virtual restaurants, which Reef hopes will serve as a framework for other cities.

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Uber, BP Form Global Convenience Partnership

By Tom Kaiser | March 31, 2022

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced its first global convenience store delivery partnership with BP.

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Instacart Slashes Valuation with Employees Top of Mind

By Nicholas Upton | March 31, 2022

Instacart made some finance news when it voluntarily slashed its valuation by almost 40 percent, from nearly $40 billion to $24 billion. That seems quite bad at first blush, but the valuation dip offers a window into the mismatch between venture capital valuations and real-world numbers in the context of an ugly market phase for tech stocks. In short, it’s great news for Instacart employees and potential hires, according to Instacart. In a public statement, a company spokesperson explained why it cut its own valuation with employees in mind. We […]

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SJW Robotics Co-Founder ‘Everything I Know is Wrong’

By Nicholas Upton | March 30, 2022

There are plenty of adages that remind us what we know today may not apply tomorrow. That’s true in restaurant technology and especially restaurant robotics, as SJW founder and CEO Nipun Sharma has learned. Before becoming an investor and mentor, his whole career was in restaurants, with a special proclivity for operating steakhouses and fine dining. When he started working on a new project with automation in mind, he found a lot of action, but not exactly what he wanted or what was promising but very early stage. He found […]

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Lunchbox Moves into Digital Restaurant Passports, VR Virtual Restaurants

By Tom Kaiser | March 24, 2022

Nabeel Alamgir is diversifying Lunchbox far beyond its roots of online ordering, integrations and marketing.

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BurgerFi Partners with Gopuff on Late-Night Delivery in Tallahassee

By Tom Kaiser | March 24, 2022

Gopuff partnered with BurgerFi to deliver burgers and sides during late-night hours in Tallahassee, Florida.

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Greg Creed, Former Yum Brands & Taco Bell CEO, Joins Thanx Board

By Tom Kaiser | March 24, 2022

Thanx received some star power with news that Greg Creed, former CEO of Yum Brands, joined the company as an advisor.

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Nextbite, WWE Launch Virtual Restaurant in Dallas

By Tom Kaiser | March 24, 2022

Nextbite teamed up with the WWE to launch a virtual restaurant in the Dallas area ahead of WrestleMania 38.

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Loyalty Revs Direct-Ordering Flywheel

By Nicholas Upton | March 23, 2022

Direct digital orders are a common goal across the restaurant space, and loyalty has emerged as a way not to push users to order direct but instead entice them with perks, ease and lower fees. Back in 2019, Olo founder and CEO Noah Glass wrote, “The measure of success in the years to come will be a restaurant’s percentage of direct digital sales.” The industry was moving in that direction for restaurants to reduce the burden of delivery provider commissions, but like so many things, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred that […]

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