From Restaurant Reservations to Great Groceries Technology for Foodies

Can’t wait for your for your favorite restaurant to reopen so you can book a special night out? Open Table has been a favorite of foodies for 15+ years enabling online reservations at hard to book restaurants all around the county. 

When life give you a lemon, it’s time to make lemon aid.  Open Table the once leading restaurant reservation app, has evolved to bring you fresh fast groceries.  Yes, Open Table has rolled out a reservation system for grocery shopping at specialty grocers and businesses such as restaurants that have started selling groceries during the pandemic.

On the Open Table website they state: "As we all work to stop the spread of COVID-19, OpenTable has teamed up with participating grocery stores and markets to help limit the number of people who enter at a time and reduce crowds and wait times for shoppers. Just as people can make a restaurant reservation or join a waitlist, they will now be able to reserve shopping times or join a virtual line in the OpenTable app," says a statement on the company website. OpenTable's new technology works in two ways:

1.       Reserved shopping times: Just like reserving a table at a restaurant, consumers can reserve a time to enter a store. 

2.       Online waitlists: If a consumer hasn't pre-reserved, instead of standing in a physical line to get into a store, he or she can simply enter a code on a cellphone to join an online waitlist. Then wait for the notification in a car or down the block away from any crowds.

"OpenTable’s new grocery product leverages our reservation software so that grocery stores, major retailers and restaurants can display available shopping times for customers to book in advance or join a waitlist at the door. Not only does this help control crowds in a simple and contactless way, but it also provides a safer option for shoppers, especially those at high risk, to get their groceries without waiting in a crowded line," the company says.

Currently, the app feature is mostly available at specialty grocery stores and shops in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The COVID-19 pandemic has sent everyone scrambling to update their business models. Food retailers have been scrambling to keep up with demand for grocery delivery and pickup, and foodservice operators and other businesses have been scrambling to come up with alternative revenue streams, such as selling groceries.

Regular readers of this blog know that Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® has been explain the how’s and why’s food retailers need to evolve their business model since 1991. Its simple consumers are dynamic not static. Does your business model look more line yesterday than tomorrow?

Open table is not alone in trying to help both consumers and retailers. Apps the ilk of  Resy, DoorDash, GrubHub, and others have quickly adapted their business models to meet surging demand for touchless grocery and takeout.

For international corporate presentations, regional chain presentations, local educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaking will leave success clues for all. For more information visit GrocerantGuru.com, FoodserviceSolutions.US or call 1-253-759-7869

Papa Murphy’s Moving Forward Slowly

Why do consumers continue to vote Papa Murphy’s their favorite pizza chain when they don’t even have ovens in their stores?  According to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson that answer is simple they operate at the intersection of fresh, fast, flavorful and they are authentic. That will give Papa Murphy’s new CEO Weldon Spangler a great platform to work from.

 It is important to note that Papa Murphy’s excels with discovery specifically with its Limited Time Offers (LTO’s).  It’s with the consumer in mind and expanding that halo of better for you discovery that Papa Murphy’s launched a national food delivery service partnership with Grubhub.

Papa Murphy’s Holdings, Inc. last week announced a new national delivery service through Grubhub, the nation’s leading takeout marketplace stating that “Nine company-owned stores in the Colorado and Denver area launched with the delivery service in late May, and an additional 17 franchisee-owned stores will be added over the next two weeks.”

Jean Birch, Chairman of  Papa Murphy's stated “Our product is uniquely positioned for success with delivery because pizza tastes best when it’s served right out of the oven,” says “Our pizza is made fresh in stores and ready to bake at home—making it a quick and easy solution for a home-baked dinner. We’re thrilled to partner with Grubhub to make dinner even more convenient for our customers.”

By partnering with Grubhub makes it easy for Papa Murphy’s customers order delivery—by reordering their favorite meals, ordering up to four days in advance and welcoming a new variety of payment methods, including Apple Pay, Android Pay, PayPal, eGift cards, credit cards and cash. Once a Grubhub order is placed, customers can track their order and stay in the know about their delivery through push notifications and text messages.

Consumers are dynamic not static all brands must evolve and Papa Murphy’s will continue to evolve and continue to win the hearts and minds of consumers. It's time that Papa Murphy's add more Grocerant Niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh Food menu offereings to drive top line sales and bottom line profits. 

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information. 

Dinning with Denny’s Daily Delivery

Back in the day Denny’s was breakfast for our family on weekends, the place to stop when the family was on a road trip, and while in college the after-hours hot spot.  Denny’s is all that today but now they are closer to home than ever. 

Denny’s  now is delivering meals embracing the off-premise boom dinning boom or as Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® called it the 65 inch HDTV syndrome. Denny’s new integrated ordering platform allows guests to place an order for takeout and delivery through its website, app, or by using a variety of social media options.

Denny’s CMO John Dillon  stated “The launch of ‘Denny’s on Demand’ is the result of our commitment to leveraging new technology to reach a wider audience and make it even more convenient for today’s virtually-connected guests to enjoy their favorite diner dishes,”

Denny’s have gone a bit further than other restaurant chains as they are also launching a line of custom-designed microwaveable takeout packaging made from sustainable materials that is branded with Denny’s tweets.

Expanding the brand Denney’s integrated marketing messaging will promote the new ordering option, it's partnering with Hulu to offer diners a 60-day free trial of the streaming service after they place an order using the new system, and encouraging fans to share their Denny’s on Demand experience using custom Snapchat filters as well.

Denny’s customers will be able to order delivery (where available) or takeout 24/7, 365 days a year, from the brand’s revamped mobile app or through Dennys.com, and guests will be able to choose pickup or delivery times and track their orders.

The chain will also utilize a new online ordering option through Twitter, where diners can select and order favorite dishes by using direct messaging services. Patrons can use a branded chatbot on Facebook as well. Denny’s on Demand will rely on third-party deliverers such as GrubHub and DoorDash.

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.