News Briefs

Layne’s Chicken Fingers has hired Richard Broadhead as its new Director of Marketing. Broadhead has spent the last 15-plus years working in marketing roles and says he is ready to support the brand as it drives expansion. 

With years of experience, Broadhead has a strong track record of leveraging strategy and technology in order to create impactful marketing campaigns. Much of this knowledge is informed by his work as an independent consultant that focused on marketing and IT solutions for a wide range of clients. 

Layne’s CEO Garrett Reed approached Broadhead, welcoming him into the company in order to build an internal marketing strategy from the ground up. 

Founded in 1994 in College Station, the original location became a Texas A&M legend known for its small-town charm, friendly service, iconic chicken fingers and secret sauce. While opening corporate locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the leadership team focused on fine-tuning its operations and starting to franchise. Now, the company is targeting 100 locations in the next four years.  

 

Shiji, a global hospitality technology innovator, has partnered with IPORT, an award-winning manufacturer known for enhancing the usability of iPads and iPhones, to introduce an all-in-one software solution for hotel restaurants. This collaboration will provide hoteliers with a seamless combination of a tablet and payment device to maximize their F&B operations.

The integrated iOS and payment device solution simplifies guest service for hotel restaurant servers, providing them with an effortless tool to cater to their guests' needs. As a certified Apple partner, Shiji and IPORT guarantee exceptional performance and reliability. Hoteliers can choose from multiple device options, including iPad Pro, iPad Mini, and iPhone, ensuring flexibility and compatibility with their operations.

“IPORT products are built around modularity and flexibility that empower our hospitality customers to do more with the iOS platform. We are thrilled to partner with a leading iPad and iPhone cloud PMS and POS platform provider like Shiji,” said Chris Lawson, Head of Partnerships, IPORT. “We look forward to innovating with Shiji in disrupting legacy, monolithic providers who have limited the industry from harnessing the power of iOS and mobility. The future is bright, and the possibilities are endless with IPORT, iOS, and Shiji.”

"The partnership with IPORT is a significant milestone for Shiji in our commitment to provide innovative technology solutions for the hospitality industry," said Ryan King, Senior Vice President of Shiji in the Americas. "By combining our expertise with IPORT’s hardware solutions, we empower hoteliers to streamline restaurant operations and deliver exceptional guest experiences. This collaboration represents another step forward in our dedication to driving success in the Americas, and globally."

The tablet and payment device solution seamlessly integrates with multiple payment gateways, allowing hoteliers to choose the system that best suits their needs. By simplifying the payment process, it reduces operational complexities, minimizes errors, and saves valuable time and resources for hoteliers.

Steak n Shake will offer PopID Check In and PopPay on its self-ordering kiosks in select locations in the Orlando market, with plans to expand to more than 300 corporate locations. PopID Check In is an opt-in service that enables consumers to scan their face to automatically sign into their loyalty reward account and see their past orders, making the ordering process as convenient as possible. When a guest checks in with PopID, they also have the option to use PopPay to automatically complete their payment.

• 57% of respondents say enabling new payment options is a  top business driver impacting POS upgrade decisions, according to HT’s2 2023 POS Software Trends Report.

“Our partnership with PopID is a key part of our effort to provide guests with a fast and seamless ordering experience," said Keith Correia, Chief Information Officer. "When using PopID Check In, a guest does not need to use their phone or take out their wallet as part of the ordering process. They will automatically be checked in for loyalty rewards, and they can choose to make an automated payment with PopPay. A guest can even see their past orders and quickly reorder their favorite menu items. Ordering at Steak n Shake has never been easier or more convenient.”

In addition to enhancing the guest experience and improving order throughput, PopPay helps to reduce fraud and offers lower payment processing fees.

For electric vehicle owners in British Columbia, Tim Hortons is now fueling road trips in more ways than one.  The company has announced the expansion of its electric vehicle charging station pilot launched earlier this year in Oakville, Ontario, by unveiling six new charging stations at restaurants throughout  British Columbia.

Tim Hortons announced the pilot in February in an effort to study the technology, its usage and opportunities.

"We have been thrilled with the results of the pilot so far.  Usage of the charging station in Oakville has surpassed our expectations and we received many calls with requests to expand the pilot," said Paulo Ferreira, Senior Director, International Strategic Restaurant Design and Building Standards, Tim Hortons. "With more than 3,300 eligible restaurants across the country, we continue to look for opportunities to expand the pilot and contribute to the EV infrastructure."

The BC expansion, supported by the Province of BC's Community Charging Infrastructure Fund and Koben Systems Inc. (KSI), placed charging stations strategically in Nanaimo, Langford, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Abbotsford and Coquitlam to create paths within the province, allowing guests to travel from restaurant to restaurant strictly on electric power.

Tim Hortons offers charging stations as a courtesy to guests at six locations.  As of March 31st, 2013, Tim Hortons had 4,288 system-wide restaurants, including 3,453 in Canada, 808 in the United States and 27 in the Gulf Cooperation Council. 

Duetto has reported an increase in hotel revenue tech investment in the first half of 2023.

The cloud-based software-as-a-service provider has enjoyed a 30% increase in business in the first half of 2023, compared to new hotel subscriptions in H1 2022.

Notable new signings in the year's first half have included Pierre et Vacances, Deutsche Hospitality, Apex Hotels, and GCH Hotel Group.

• Missed HITEC?  Check out HT's HITEC Toronto content hub
   

Duetto’s results mirror those of its Duetto Outlook & Trends 2023 Survey. In early 2023, Duetto surveyed the global hospitality industry and found that more hoteliers are investing in tech. The Duetto Outlook & Trends 2023 Survey showed that 82.3% of those surveyed were now using a revenue management system (RMS), up from 67.6% in the 2022 survey. Of those not using an RMS, 71.4% planned to invest in revenue management technology in 2023, up from 50% in 2022.

50 percent of hotels say their operational technologies are somewhat or significantly better than their competitors', according to HT's 2023 Lodging Technology Study

Looking back on tech investment in 2022, 72.2% said their hotel tech spend had either increased or stayed the same. Looking ahead, 60.8% expected their hotel tech spend to increase in the next three years.

New hotels onboarded with Duetto in 2023 are already seeing positive results:

• “The way rates, restrictions, and rules can be managed with Duetto is literally a  Game Changer. Easy to set up, use and control, there are almost no boundaries. You just use your imagination and determination. Duetto isn’t just bringing us to the next level, it takes our Revenue Management to an entirely new dimension.” - Christian Fischer, Head of Revenue Management, Bold Hotels.
• “...Duetto is truly a weapon against your competition, giving you a detailed analysis of your data, smart pricing models and what we were really impressed about is that they take feedback from their customers very seriously.” -  Linh Hoang, Hotel Manager, The Yacht Hotel by DC.

Duetto is exhibiting at HITEC Toronto booth 1334..

SWIPEBY is rolling out a whole set of AI-driven features in its holistic direct ordering platform that will use the power of AI to improve customer interaction, upselling purchases, making reviews more manageable and powerful, and improving marketing within.

This is geared towards local businesses that have traditionally fallen behind enterprise organizations; they now have an advanced tech engine working for them without needing technical expertise or large time commitments, the company says. 

Earlier this year, SWIPEBY rolled out its Snapshot AI tool for restaurants to quickly and easily generate food photos based on menu descriptions. Now SWIPEBY with AI includes a suite of AI features across multiple business functions. Upselling and cross-selling, reviews management, remarketing are the first AI-driven features to be released.

 

• SWIPEBY Edda functions as a customer-facing AI Guest Assistant. Edda provides a human-like interaction with a customer that makes useful suggestions for additional items the customer may want to purchase. 
• SWIPEBY AI Review Consultant means a business never misses the opportunity to respond to a review. SWIPEBY’s 5-star Review Management tool, released in 2022, helps increase stellar reviews for its operators. Now SWIPEBY with AI expands upon that by keeping track of all new public reviews and crafting an appropriate response using business data, such as current promotions and specials. 
• SWIPEBY Deep Reviews Insights is a monthly AI-driven report that provides an analysis of public reviews and an easily digestible summary from vast amounts of public data. It provides insights that would typically require an expensive consulting firm. 
• SWIPEBY AI Remarketing significantly upgrades SWIPEBY’s current remarketing engine. 

SWIPEBY Edda, AI Review Consultant and Remarketing are available now for select SWIPEBY operators. Deep Review Insights is in beta with social media management and pricing recommendations expected to be rolled out in July. Other AI features will be released on a biweekly to monthly schedule. 

Due to the popularity of AI and high impact of features, SWIPEBY has opened a waitlist for businesses interested in taking advantage of the capabilities. Those interested in joining the list can complete the form found at https://swipe.by/.