News Briefs

Boxxtech announces the launch of their second alcohol vending machine at Progressive Field, the home stadium of Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians. Ballgame attendees can skip long lines and purchase beer and pre-packaged cocktails from the refrigerated The Boxx machine.

“We are excited to be among the first companies to make unattended alcohol sales safe and effective by embedding ID authentication directly into the machine,” said Boxxtech CEO, Lauren Smee. “For busy environments like stadiums and festivals, The Boxx is an ideal way to keep lines down for pre-packaged products, and reduce staffing costs while still serving the same amount of product.” Boxxtech first demo’d the technology at SuperBowl LVIII, where more than 1,000 beverages were dispensed before and during the game, generating more than $68 every minute it was operational. 

Unattended retail has previously been challenged to sell 21+ products due to ID verification. Boxxtech integrates IDScan.net Age Restricted Vending package, which includes best-in-class ID authentication, capable of rapidly confirming customer age, and detecting up to 95% of fake IDs. The tech also includes face matching, ensuring that the customer in front of the machine matches the photo on a valid ID or drivers license. This technology replaces visual ID checks that would normally be performed by bartenders or event staff.

“IDScan.net ID verification technology was the clear winner among the three services we tested for integration into The Boxx. Not only does it successfully catch all fake IDs, keeping minors from accessing products inside the machine, but it was easy to set up without complicated business logic, providing us a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on every verification,” said BoxxTech CTO Chris Davis.

Boxxtech machines have served more than 27,000 customers since launch in April 2024. Two The Boxx machines are currently operational, with an additional 50 planned for rollout by the end of 2024, including at least one in a major league sports stadium, and a fleet for placement in a major hotel chain that is looking to sell beer in their lobbies without adding additional staff. The Phoenix-based company has already won several major awards, including the AZ Fire Inno Award by the Phoenix Business Journal, and the 2024 Female Founder Venture Madness Award. Additionally, Boxxtech has been awarded with the coveted Innovation Award for NFL Legends, and counts former Oakland Raider Lamarr Houston as its President. They are a Techstars portfolio company, with additional backing from the founder of RetailMeNot. 

PopID and Steak n Shake announced today that all Steak n Shake locations in the United States now accept PopID Check In (to review favorite orders and loyalty points) and PopPay for checkout. With more than 300 locations, Steak n Shake is the first national restaurant brand in the United States to adopt biometric check-in and checkout nationwide. PopID’s biometric check-in feature makes kiosk ordering faster, easier, and more personalized.

The implementation of PopID in every Steak n Shake location was accomplished rapidly and at low cost through a partnership between PopID and ACRELEC, a leading supplier of kiosk-ordering hardware and drive-through products. Cameras were shipped to every restaurant for attachment to the existing ACRELEC kiosks. “As explained in our recent publication, ACRELEC believes that our integrated biometric solution provides various benefits to restaurant operators related to throughput, ticket size, and loyalty engagement,” says Bruno Lo-Re, President of ACRELEC America.

“We are thrilled about our partnership with PopID and to be on the edge of biometric technology for the benefit of our customers. Our guests now have the option to use biometrics for a faster and more seamless experience,” says Sardar Biglari, Chairman of Biglari Holdings, the parent company of Steak n Shake.

Now that biometrics are enabled for all ordering and payment inside Steak n Shake restaurants, PopID and Steak n Shake will begin implementing biometric check-in and checkout at the restaurant’s drive-through units. “Similar to the kiosks, biometric check in can increase loyalty participation and revenue at the drive thru while also reducing payment processing costs,” says John Miller, CEO of PopID and Chairman of Cali Group. “Additionally, biometric payment at the order confirmation screen enables staff members to work on tasks other than taking payments by card and phone at the order pick-up window.”

Cvent, a meetings, events and hospitality technology provider, shared several significant AI-driven enhancements during the company’s Hospitality Cloud Product Roadmap Session at Cvent CONNECT. The comprehensive product announcements, which are expected to be launched this year, illustrate Cvent’s commitment to empowering its customers with AI across its event and hospitality technology platform.

“As a long-time leader in the event and hospitality space, we’re well positioned to capitalize on the AI opportunity in a way that makes the most sense for those who matter most: our customers,” said Jim Abramson, Vice President of Product Management at Cvent. “Our product development strategy prioritizes a practical application of AI across our platform that maximizes impact while minimizing the effort required from our users to access it. We plan to continue investing in new and innovative ways to combine the power of AI, with our decades of data-driven insights, to help hotel teams achieve even better group business results.”

Cvent announced several planned AI-powered product offerings including:

• Smarter prospecting with Planner Navigator: New AI capabilities within Planner Navigator will help sales teams to automatically match their hotel, venue or destination with planners who are sourcing over their need dates. AI will also power the creation of customized prospecting pitches. With a few clicks, hoteliers can create tailor-made pitches to more effectively attract and engage their target audience.
• Improved planner engagement with natural language venue search: Cvent unveiled several new AI-powered solutions built directly within the Cvent Supplier Network (CSN), including natural language search, enabling planners to finetune their hotel and destination searches with conversational language. Planners can simply describe their key criteria (“Venue with a spa”, “adjacent to a golf course”, etc.) in the search box. AI-enabled matching surfaces the best-fit properties, which not only streamlines the sourcing process, but also helps deliver more qualified RFPs to hotels and venues.
• Faster and more efficient RFP response with Custom Questions: New AI technology will reference a hotel or venue’s past RFP responses and leverage CSN profile information to generate answers to Custom Questions from planners instantly, dramatically reducing the time it takes for hotel sales teams to complete, and respond to, planner proposals.
• Enhanced agenda creation for planners with RFP Agenda Builder: RFP Agenda Builder, built within the CSN, leverages AI to help planners build comprehensive agendas in seconds. This functionality improves the planner experience and helps to ensure hoteliers have the right information to deliver a successful event.
• More efficient diagram design with AI Diagram Assistant: Using natural language functionality, AI Diagram Assistant empowers hotel operations teams with the ability to deliver precise, customized floorplans and room layouts within Cvent Event Diagramming in seconds.

LG Business Solutions USA has launched LG Business Cloud, a powerful web-application platform that puts the power of LG’s Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions under one roof.

LG Business Cloud enables customers to establish a highly secure common point of access for their LG digital signage devices using a straightforward, one-time sign-up process. User privilege, access control and single sign-on (SSO), license management, site and location structure are all designed to be easy to use yet flexible for the largest deployment.

“LG has long been a leader in providing intuitive, scalable software and platform solutions to help integrators and their customers remotely monitor and manage digital signage networks as well as distribute and customize content,” said LG Business Solutions USA Senior Vice President Michael Kosla. “Now, the launch of the LG Business Cloud puts all the tools they need to manage these services in one place, with clear value propositions and a consolidated platform experience.”

Kosla added that the company’s focus on software and services, which supports LG’s global transformation into a Smart Life Solutions company beyond a hardware manufacturer, provides significant benefits to commercial display customers. The LG Business Cloud is a multi-service SaaS cloud platform that provides integrators and business owners simple access to the powerful capabilities of LG ConnectedCare, LG Pro:Centric Cloud, LG Pro:Centric Stay and LG SuperSign Cloud. By eliminating the need to install and manage on-site servers and software running on the servers, each service helps businesses further reduce up-front costs and long-term maintenance requirements

LG SuperSign Cloud

LG SuperSign Cloud is a powerful content management system (CMS) designed to boost a retailer’s digital signage campaigns by providing “anywhere, anytime” control of content, remote control of individual displays or the entire network of displays to set on/off scheduling and make real-time changes to content. The software enables easy uploading and distribution of content as well as expert-level editing tools, including music selection

SuperSign Cloud users can also enhance their content creation using third-party design templates, digital art, and even live on-screen presentation of social media feeds. For example, the specialized DSmenu service allows users to easily create digital menu boards, while PosterMyWall helps users design eye-catching promotional materials -- each offering incredible value to retail and food establishments that require frequent updates. The ArtPlayer service grants access to an array of digital art, while Screenfeed enables companies to simply and cleanly display Instagram feeds through digital signage. Wantreez Music provides expertly curated playlists that harmonize with on-screen content to elevate ambiance in a variety of settings.

LG Pro:Centric Stay

With the new LG Pro:Centric Stay platform, LG offers short-term rental property managers and owners a powerful cloud-based TV content distribution and management solution, using powerful tools to create personalized guest experiences for on-premise TVs. The platform makes these powerful capabilities available to virtually any size short-term rental hosts to multinational ”staycation” businesses. It’s easy to create welcome pages, local guides and custom content through Pro:Centric’s familiar drag-and-drop interface that includes widgets such as weather, maps, flight information and more.

LG ConnectedCare

LG ConnectedCare is a network manager’s best friend, offering extremely powerful tools to ensure consistent operation of the entire network of displays regardless of deployment size or variety of displays. This is an active monitoring service that automatically sends alert emails to preset recipients for more than 20 common operations errors, and enables remote adjustments to resolve issues and fine tune device settings.

The main selling point is the ability to eliminate or greatly reduce screen down time, which can directly affect a property’s revenue and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the ability to manage multiple devices at once reduces labor time and boosts efficiency when enacting changes or updates.

“Each of these cloud-based services provides high-value functions, efficiency gains and up-front cost savings to help businesses maximize guest experiences, revenues and communication opportunities,” Kosla said. “With the new consolidated user experience unveiled at InfoComm, the LG Business Cloud can be a game-changer for commercial integrators and their customers.”

GiftAMeal, the innovative cause-marketing program that turns customer photos into meals for local families in need, announces a significant milestone in donated meals with restaurant partner Lee’s Famous Recipe  Chicken.  As of June, Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken has donated 150,000 meals to families in need through GiftAMeal’s charitable partnership. In 2023, GiftAMeal was named one of HT’s Industry Heroes  for its solution.

Customers of Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken will soon notice something special about their orders – packaging – from drink cups to side boxes – will feature its involvement in GiftAMeal, along with information on how guests can participate in making a difference in their community. This creative initiative not only serves as a platform to raise awareness for the cause but also invites customers to join in supporting food banks across the country. The co-branded packaging will be available at locations nationwide, ensuring that every customer has the chance to fight local hunger. 

The new packaging will complement a digital effort announced earlier this year in which Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken revamped its mobile application and added a GiftAMeal button on the home page that allows customers to engage directly and effortlessly with the GiftAMeal program. By simply clicking the button and uploading a photo of their dining experience, customers trigger a restaurant-funded donation to a local food bank to help provide a meal to a family in need.

"By integrating GiftAMeal directly onto their packaging and mobile app, Lee’s has transformed each dining experience into a catalyst for change. Our partnership showcases how technology and collaboration can unite us in a shared mission to nourish those in need, and we are thrilled to continue this journey together," says Andrew Glantz, CEO and Founder of GiftAMeal.

With 130 restaurant locations participating in GiftAMeal, Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken is one of GiftAMeal's larger partners.

"The integration of GiftAMeal on our brand-wide packaging reflects our deep-rooted commitment to community engagement and enhances the impact we can make, all with no extra effort for our franchisees,” says Dan Sokolik, VP of Marketing at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken. “Reaching 150,000 meals highlights the tangible difference we and our guests are making in the lives of local families in need.”

As GiftAMeal continues to expand its network of restaurant partners, the potential to combat food insecurity grows exponentially. Each new partnership amplifies the collective impact, enabling more families to receive the nourishment they need.

To learn more about GiftAMeal, visit www.giftameal.com. Restaurants interested in joining can visit  giftameal.com/partner to schedule a free demo today.