News Briefs

Panasonic Connect North America showcased its restaurant technology solutions, including its newest Stingray  JS9900 Kiosk Series and JS988 Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals, at MURTEC 2024 in Las Vegas. The new solutions will transform the consumer experience in fast casual or quick-serve settings from a mundane order process to a completely personalized and seamless touchpoint between customers and their favorite eateries.

The new kiosks and POS terminals were built with Panasonic Connect’s customer needs in mind, focused on flexibility, efficiency, and reliability. These elements are critical not just for QSRs, but also a variety of retail establishments and hospitality operations looking to maximize the consumer experience and increase their reputation as a tech-forward brand. 

To provide staff members with the tools they need to get their jobs done more efficiently, optimize workflows, and promote data-driven processes, these new technology solutions empower consumers to take control of their own digitally enabled order or check-in process. With the easy-to-use and interactive solutions deployed throughout a storefront, businesses can keep up with fast-paced environments, and offer do-it-yourself and personalized solutions for customers to order and pay as quickly as possible.

• 85% say integrations with other systems is driving POS purchasing decisions, according to HT's 2024 POS Software Trends Survey

At the Panasonic Connect booth #136, attendees were able to interact with several solutions, including the new Stingray options:

• Stingray  JS988 POS Terminal: A new all-in-one POS terminal with a small footprint and lightweight design so users can effortlessly move the devices and interact with the terminal. Integrated with the latest Intel® processors, the Stingray JS988 is designed to be fast and powerful, ensuring smooth performance for anyone. Easily customizable to fit a wide range of form factors, the modular terminal can also be integrated with choice of peripherals including a camera, customer-facing display, biometric magnetic stripe reader (MSR), and more – all to enhance the purchasing experience to create personalized pathways for all customers.
• Stingray  JS9900 Kiosk Series: A new kiosk made with versatility in mind. With flexible mounting options from floor or counter stands to wall mounts and a variety of screen sizes, the kiosks can be configured in over 750 different combinations. To create a truly customizable experience, the modular and durable design will enable stores to place the kiosk anywhere with easily swappable screens and mounts. This also ensures future readiness for any store configuration change while also withstanding busy environments that can be tough on hardware. Designed to be powerful and quick, the kiosk can be used for a variety of solutions through the store for wayfinding, self-ordering, POS, or advertising and displaying dynamic content – pertinent to giving the customer all information needed to enhance their buying experience.

For more information about the JS988 POS Terminals and the JS9900 Kiosk Series, visit Panasonic's website.

Domino's Pizza Inc. introduces its new and improved loyalty program. 

Domino's Rewards offers loyalty members even more opportunities to earn and redeem points across its corporate and franchise store locations. Domino's enhanced rewards program allows customers to:

• Earn points for less
  • Loyalty members will now earn 10 points on every order of $5 or more
• Redeem points for even more menu items – and earn free Domino's after just two orders
  • Members can redeem a variety of points for more menu items:
    • 20 points: A free dipping cup, a 16-piece order of Parmesan Bread Bites or a 20 oz. drink
    • 40 points: An order of Bread Twists or Stuffed Cheesy Bread
    • 60 points: A medium, two-topping pizza; pasta; Oven-Baked Sandwich; or a 3-piece order of Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes
• Earn more rewards
  • Loyalty perks are now even better, as members will have exclusive access to member-only deals, special discounts and opportunities to earn bonus points!

"We are thrilled to give the brand's loyal customers additional ways to earn free Domino's items more often," said Mark Messing, Domino's vice president of digital experience and loyalty. "At a time when most brands are scaling back their loyalty programs and making it more difficult to earn and redeem points, Domino's is doing the opposite. We want to make it easier to reward our customers and give them more options so they can get rewarded faster."

Marketing a LTO 

From now until Oct. 22, 2023, rewards members can take advantage of a limited time offer to redeem 20 points for a free order of Domino's new Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread, which is normally a 40-point redemption, in celebration of the product's recent launch. 

Hungry House a New York-based fast casual restaurant platform, is merging with MegaBite , based in Lima and Mexico City, a multi-brand platform bringing curated, chef-backed cuisine to market through various delivery channels and its own app. 

Together, the two companies create an international, multi-brand fast casual player with 13 locations in three countries: USA, Mexico and Peru. With a combined annual revenue over $6M, the joint entity will double down on continued growth across the verticals of in-store retail, first-party delivery, and third-party delivery partnerships with UberEATS, GrubHub, DoorDash, and Rappi in Latin America.

 Both companies will continue to operate as vertically integrated players to maintain their mutually high levels of food quality and hospitality that are core to the brand of their new entity, BiteLabs. 

Not a Ghost Kitchen

"We believe that Hungry House and MegaBite, operating together, have the potential to be the most innovative, tech-enabled, multi-brand fast-casual restaurant group across the Americas. We'll continue to bring our vision of chef-backed fast casual restaurants with a dynamic in-store experience, and a robust native app, to diverse audiences passionate about great food. This will uplift choice for the consumer with groundbreaking, high-quality culinary brands developed in partnership with today's most exciting chefs and provide a range of choice for the consumer facilitated by algorithmically personalized options," says Pedro Neira, CEO of MegaBite and the newly created entity. "We are definitely not a ghost kitchen platform. Given that our customers can reach us with in-person eating in our restaurants, via pickup, through third-party apps, as well as online through our own native apps and websites, I would say our business model mirrors more that of Sweetgreen, CAVA, and Shake Shack. The only difference is that we are serving multiple brands in our locations and not just one."

Hungry House provides the joint entity with expertise in business-to-business catering service, while MegaBite offers extensive expertise in data-driven, food delivery optimization across its multiple sales channels. The deal also creates exciting synergy with the talent of the combined C-Suite leading the next chapter of growth for the company. 

The transaction solidifies Hungry House and MegaBite's momentum at a compelling time in the fast casual segment. Both companies have since 2021 been building in the same space. The joined companies will not build in the ghost kitchen space, but instead expand by building upon a multi-brand, in-store retail and multi-channel approach similar to that of Wonder, which recently secured an additional $100 in funding from Nestlé. The growth and expansion of Hungry House and MegaBite, and the current merger, have been facilitated by Wilshire Lane Capital, Carao Ventures, SNR VC, McK Hospitality, Alaya Capital, Amarena VC, and independent investors like Russ Rosenband, Atit Jariwala, and Andrew Balogh.

This news builds on the growth of Hungry House's existing NYC footprint. The company recently launched a newly updated location in Manhattan on January 22. Previously Pure Grit BBQ (now a Hungry House portfolio brand), the new location stands for culinary collaboration, and brings together innovative, chef-inspired flavors through a single multi-brand culinary platform, available in person and online. The launch of the new restaurant, in the heart of Manhattan's Flatiron District, also featured a special announcement about Hungry House's upcoming partnership with chef and online personality Emily Fedner, of Food Lover's Diary, featuring an Eastern European-influenced dumpling menu, now available at both Hungry House locations in Manhattan & Brooklyn for pickup and delivery.

Pictured from left:  Co-Founder and COO Andrew Corrigan, Co-Founder and CEO Pedro Neira, and Co-Founder and Head of Growth Solamon Cruz Estin, formerly of UberEats and DoorDash.

About BiteLabs
Moving forward, the company envisions continuing to launch tech-enabled, multi-brand fast-casual restaurants where guests can sit and eat onsite, order for pick-up or delivery via a native app and various third-party channels, and also locations that can serve the B2B markets with the same variety and quality that it serves the B2C market.

Otelier, a hospitality performance optimization platform that puts data and efficiency at the heart of hotel operations, has launched an innovative new product, called Otelier Rec, that automates financial reconciliation workflows, saving hotels potentially thousands of dollars per month.

Rec tackles the increasingly difficult challenge of identifying and resolving discrepancies in financial records, preventing unnecessary revenue and expense leakage. Removing manual methods and automating financial reconciliation helps hotels uncover missing revenue they otherwise may have overlooked, saving expensive labor hours ilrakn the process. Automated reconciliation speeds up month-end closing, allowing for near real-time reporting of profit and loss statements and enabling better visibility into hotel performance.

“There are so many stakeholders involved in a hotel booking that it’s easy to find discrepancies by the time revenue flows through to the bottom line,” said Niki Johnson, Chief Product Officer at Otelier. “For example, when OTA bookings are canceled late or the guest leaves early, many hotels end up paying full commissions on those bookings at the end of the month. Automatically detecting discrepancies and proactively taking action leads to accuracy and savings.”

Rec includes three automated financial reconciliation workflows: 

• Bank Reconciliation is a set of workflows that help ensure cash and credit card revenues are correctly making their way from the Property Management System (PMS) and/or Point-of-Sale System (POS) to your bank account. 
• OTA Reconciliation prevents overpayment to third parties like Booking.com and Expedia by automatically monitoring booking status, cancellations, and room charges for bookings, ensuring accurate commission payments.   
• Income Journal Audit automates the daily transfer of reconciled income directly to your hotel’s accounting system, including revenue, taxes, cash, credit card transactions, and ledger balances. Configurable to your hotel’s needs, this workflow remembers as you map codes over time and reduces the time spent on this daily task. 

Otelier Rec is available as an add-on to any of Otelier’s products, including DigiAudit, IntelliSight, and TruePlan. 

“Discrepancies in accounting can add up to thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars per month at full-service hotels. Without automated reconciliation tools, hoteliers are undoubtedly leaving money on the table,” said Otelier CEO Vic Chynoweth. “We’re excited to add Otelier Rec to our product lineup, the latest step in delivering a unified platform that meets the evolving needs of today's hotelier.”

Otelier was launched in February 2024, bringing together the best features and functionality from MDO, Datavision, inTouch, HelloGM, Focal Revenue Solutions, and Broadvine, to deliver a unified platform that puts data and efficiency at the heart of hotel operations. Otelier’s suite of products includes: 

• DigiAudit: a night audit compliance solution that allows hoteliers to automate back office tasks, reduce operating costs and stay in compliance.
• TruePlan: a budgeting and forecasting solution that allows hoteliers to simplify and streamline budgeting processes and forecast with confidence.
• IntelliSight: Otelier’s new business intelligence solution that allows hoteliers to aggregate cross-functional data for powerful analysis and insights. 

Jurny, a vertical AI solution for automating hotel and short-term rental operations, announced the public launch of its AI Multi-Agent system. This industry-first technology marks a significant milestone in the evolution of property management solutions, introducing specialized AI agents designed to cooperate and handle specific tasks like concierge services and guest communications, without the need for human intervention.

"Our AI Multi-Agent technology marks a turning point for the hospitality industry,” said Luca Zambello, CEO of Jurny. “It signals a seismic shift, transforming our interaction with technology and property management, and opening up new possibilities that we didn’t have before.”

Zambello added, “This initiative extends far beyond hospitality. It establishes the foundation for a surge in AI innovation across countless sectors. Startups creating the infrastructure to harness the full capabilities of next-generation AI will emerge as the biggest winners in the next five years."

Jurny’s Multi-Agent system is a network of several purpose-built AI agents that are able to reason and make decisions on their own, including a local concierge agent, a guest communications agent, a quality assurance agent, a reporting agent, an upsell agent, and more. These agents communicate and interact with each other to accomplish complex tasks. Jurny’s AI agents mimic the collaborative dynamic of a real-world team. When a property manager or a guest has a question or an issue, Jurny’s agents “consult” each other to quickly deliver an accurate, informed response.

This system is only possible with Jurny’s vertically integrated, centralized data platform. Unlike fragmented legacy systems, Jurny's platform allows AI agents to work efficiently across all software components.

The introduction of the industry's first commercially available AI Multi-Agent system showcases Jurny's commitment to innovation and further positions the company as a leader in shaping the future of AI applications, not just in hospitality, but across a broad range of industries. For more information about Jurny and its AI Multi-Agent technology, please visit Jurny's website, www.jurny.com.