HT Talks Tech: Jared Hinshaw, VP of Technology for Walk-On’s
On the heels of the announcement about Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux largest tech investment in its 20-year history, HT caught up with Jared Hinshaw, VP of Technology, to get the scoop. The Baton Rouge, La.-based restaurant is partnering with Lunchbox to upgrade its online ordering platform and guest loyalty program, and introducing a partnership with Toast to level up its POS management system.
HT: What were the criteria Walk-On’s used when shopping for a loyalty program?
Jared Hinshaw, VP of Technology for Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux : Our north star when considering adopting a new loyalty program was enhanced capabilities that benefitted our operators and guests alike. In particular, we knew we had a gap in personalization capabilities with our existing program and therefore we looked for partners that could offer advanced segmentation opportunities.
HT: What role does personalization/ especially marketing personalized offers, play now and in the future for the brand?
Hinshaw: Prior to our partnership with Lunchbox, we were sending the same offers to everyone in our database resulting in low engagement and ultimately leading to loyalty user fall-off. However, with our new partnership underway we will soon be able to offer guests more personalized offers based on their likes, visit frequency, previous purchase history, birthdays and so much more. We believe there’s much more value in building a 1:1 marketing approach within our loyalty program and we look forward to sending more incentivizing offers our most loyal guests.
HT: What's the time frame, approximately, for rolling out the KDS and mobile POS?
Hinshaw: We’re on track to complete our rollout by the end of this year, which includes moving over our entire system to Toast and the enhanced kitchen display system. In addition, all new restaurants in our pipeline are already opening with the upgraded systems.
HT: Does Walk-On’s currently use QR code payments? Will they be adding that feature?
Hinshaw: We don’t currently use QR codes for payments, however it’s something we’re very interested in pursuing and believe it’s what customers will be asking for in the very near-future.