Dog Haus Reveals Tech Initiatives to Improve Ops

Following a year of steady growth and innovation, Dog Haus is buckling up and hitting the accelerator for what is sure to be an exhilarating ride in 2020.The craft casual concept known for its gourmet hot dogs, sausages, burgers, creative cocktails and more, said it wrapped up 2019 with a 9.1% in same-store sales growth and attributes this success to several important initiatives, including improved training and continued menu innovations.

This year, Dog Haus will implement additional technology platforms to further optimize restaurant operations. By integrating ZippyYum’s suite of applications – including GoVentory, GoOps and GoTemp – nationwide, restaurant operators will be able to easily track and log inventory, control food cost, access an archive of video training materials and ensure food and equipment temperatures are consistently tracked and measured.

“The use of ZippyYum’s applications will simplify our operations practice and enable us to serve our guests at the highest level,” said Dog Haus Partner Hagop Giragossian. “Everything we implement on the operations end is to guarantee that we deliver the kick-ass Dog Haus experience we’re all about. 2020 is an opportunity for us to upgrade our existing practices while continuously elevating our craft casual concept.”

Behind the scenes, 2019 brought the introduction of 1Huddle, a competitive game platform for mobile devices that has transformed employee training at Dog Haus.

Before 1Huddle, Dog Haus struggled with the communication challenges of multiple locations.

“As a franchisor, one of the challenges is to communicate with every single employee and to insure the Dog Haus culture is permeating through the brand,”  Giragossian, said in an exclusive interview with Hospitality Technology, last year. “These things are important to us.”

Dog Haus’ 30 locations started using 1Huddle in fall 2018, and started creating games that reinforced its brand, company culture and product knowledge.

They’re also using it to help cross-train staff. “We have created position-specific games, so if an employee wants to move over from working as a cashier to a bartender, there’s a game for that,” he says. It takes literally minutes to create a game. [The game] can be just a bit of reinforcement to talk about something that is important.”  

Gamification makes training more fun and more memorable for employees, and they are incentivized to play through competition, points and leaderboards. 

Franchisees gave the system high marks for streamlining and enhancing the training process, enabling team members to gain greater knowledge, resulting in high customer service and satisfaction.

In 2019, the craft casual concept also added value to its guests’ experience through its mobile app, not only simplifying the order process, but improving communication of key holiday promotions and limited-time offers through push notifications.

Dog Haus currently has 30+ locations nationwide. More than 20 new franchise locations in seven states are projected to open this year. Ten more virtual restaurants will be added to its portfolio.