News Briefs

Visito, a conversational AI platform for independent hotels, announced the launch of Visito Voice, an AI-powered voice assistant designed to handle incoming guest phone calls with natural, real-time interactions.

Visito Voice enables hotels to automate phone-based guest support, resolving over 50% of incoming calls while ensuring a seamless hand-off to staff when needed. Available 24/7 in more than 50 languages, the AI assistant eliminates hold times, understands conversational speech, and integrates directly with leading property management systems.

Pormer Sarram, Co-founder and CEO of Visito, said: “Phone calls remain a major part of guest communication, but they’re also one of the most time-consuming. Hotels today need a smarter way to handle high call volumes without losing the personal touch. With Visito Voice, guests can get instant answers from a human-like agent, or be transferred to human staff when needed. That frees up teams to focus on more complex and urgent interactions.”

Built on the same infrastructure as Visito’s messaging platform, Visito Voice ensures a unified experience across voice and text. Calls can instantly transition to WhatsApp, allowing guests to continue conversations over text or complete a booking via the website.

Meanwhile, hotel staff receive call summaries and insights into guest preferences, enabling them to manage phone interactions with the same tools they use for text-based support.

Visito automates up to 97% of guest interactions across various channels, helping hoteliers minimise support costs, increase direct bookings, and enhance the overall guest experience.

Shift4 has acquired a majority stake in Vectron Systems AG, a European suppliers of point-of-sale (POS) systems to the restaurant and hospitality verticals. 

Based in Germany, Vectron has 65,000 POS locations across Europe, representing. Shift4 is expected to acquire additional ownership of Vectron through a public tender offer that is expected to conclude within the next month, with a de-listing and formal integration process to occur shortly thereafter.

The acquisition is expected to provide Shift4 with an expansive customer footprint across Europe as well as a distribution network of ~300 POS resellers. As a result of the acquisition, Shift4 believes it will be able to add its integrated payment services to current Vectron customers and products, while also empowering the sales force with a compelling all-in-one POS and payments solution unrivaled in Europe.

“Shift4 was at the forefront of the convergence between software and payments in the restaurant and hospitality verticals in the US. We see an incredible amount of demand for a similar all-in-one solution across Europe,” states Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman. “With our integrated payments and SkyTab offering, we believe we have the best solution at the right price point. Vectron will provide valuable local expertise, infrastructure, and the distribution necessary to meet the demand. This acquisition is right out of the Shift4 playbook – enabling us to unlock synergies, expand our distribution, and monetize payments for a large existing install base.”

Completes Revel Systems Acquistion

In addition to the acquisition of Vectron, Shift4 has also completed its previously announced acquisition of Revel Systems. Revel has over 18,000 merchant locations across the United States and internationally which Shift4 estimates represents a $17B+ payment opportunity. Revel also has a direct sales and dealer distribution network which Shift4 believes can be leveraged to accelerate SkyTab distribution both domestically and abroad. 

Shift4 has signed a definitive arrangement agreement to acquire Givex Corp., a global provider of gift cards, loyalty programs and point-of-sale solutions. 

The Arrangement Agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and the transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. 

With across more than 100 countries, Givex serves a wide range of businesses in various industries, including 7-Eleven, Wendy’s, Best Western, Texas Roadhouse. 

The company offers robust gift card and e-gift solutions as well as customizable loyalty programs, and a point-of-sale (POS) system for various business types, among other value-added services.

 “Givex has a considerable footprint around the world which will dramatically increase Shift4’s overall customer base,” states Shift4 President Taylor Lauber. “At the same time, their gift card and loyalty solutions are second to none and will add significant value for our current customers, creating stickier relationships andh 130,000+ active locations enhancing our overall value proposition. Similar to other deals we have recently completed, this acquisition aligns perfectly with how we like to deploy capital – adding blue-chip merchants at a low customer acquisition cost while delivering additional benefits to our customer base.” 

“The Givex team looks forward to joining the Shift4 family and bring our enterprise gift card capabilities and loyalty programs to hundreds of thousands of new customers,” says Don Gray, CEO of Givex. “By combining Shift4’s end-to-end payment solution with our value-added engagement services, we can deliver an unparalleled package to both of our customer bases.”  

Olo announced a new partnership with FreedomPay, an innovative leader in Next Level Commerce™ technologies, to improve restaurant payment experiences nationwide. The partnership also deepens Olo’s relationship with Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, which will include in-person transaction processing. 

Olo Pay launched with Stripe as its original partner for digital payments in 2022, and the partnership will now be updated for an omnichannel world providing restaurants with a truly unified solution.

This collaboration will accelerate Olo’s ability to process more card-present transactions by leveraging FreedomPay's payment gateway, which is processor-agnostic and already integrated with over 1,000 POS and payment systems. Olo Pay can now use Stripe’s payment processing on in-person POS transactions for the majority of its 700+ customers, extending the restaurant-centric benefits customers appreciate about Olo Pay’s digital payments.

By integrating Olo Pay with FreedomPay's Commerce Platform, Olo will be able to offer enterprise brands choice in how they integrate in-store payment processing with Olo: either directly through one of Olo Pay Card-Present partnerships announced in 2024 or through FreedomPay. Like the POS partnerships, integrating FreedomPay and Stripe will enable brands to integrate Olo Pay’s Card-Present solution with Olo Engage, the company’s guest engagement suite. Aggregating both digital and in-store transactions into a single guest data profile will create opportunities for more personalized guest experiences and data-driven decision-making.

"Currently, about 18% of restaurant transactions are digital,” said Noah Glass, Founder & CEO of Olo. “By processing the remaining 82% of on-premise transactions, we're uniquely positioned to provide restaurants with a 360-degree view of their guests by combining the newly captured in-store data with the digital order data they already have from our online ordering. This visibility will allow restaurants to better personalize interactions, making every guest feel like a regular and driving superior hospitality.”

In addition, this integration provides current Olo Pay Card-Not-Present customers additional benefits:

• Consolidates payment processing with a single provider
• Eliminates reconciliation, reporting, and refund challenges due to multiple processors
• Improves omnichannel tracking of guest purchasing history
• Enhances loyalty program and cross-channel promotion effectiveness

"By combining FreedomPay's Next Level Commerce™ platform with Olo's innovative payment solution purpose-built for restaurants, we're creating a unified, secure, and seamless checkout experience that will drive digital transformation," said Chris Kronenthal, President of FreedomPay. “Our work with Olo Pay will help unify the digital and in-store payment experience, improving reporting and providing restaurants with clearer insights for better decision-making.”

This partnership represents a step forward in Olo's strategy to streamline commerce across all ordering channels, offering restaurants more flexibility, efficiency, and guest engagement capabilities to drive the industry toward a more personalized future. To learn more about Olo Pay, visit https://www.olo.com/pay.

Tucker’s Farm Corp. has acquired Pizza Factory Inc., a restaurant franchisor. The acquisition was completed via the Farm’s franchisor platform Wonder Franchises. Founded in 1979 by Danny Wheeler and Ron Willey, Pizza Factory has approximately $94 million in system sales across 84 franchisees and 110 restaurants. Since 2012, the business has been led by owner and CEO, Mary Jane Riva, who will stay on as CEO moving forward.

In 2023, Tucker’s Farm launched Wonder, a franchise-focused holding vehicle, with $30 million of committed, long-term equity capital. Wonder is dedicated to partnering with and acquiring emerging to mid-size brands with the goal of long-term growth. Wonder’s priority is to be a great partner to sellers and a responsible steward for world-class brands and related assets.

“We’re extremely excited to be acquiring Pizza Factory and to be partnering with MJ to take Pizza Factory to the next level. We love the longevity and stability of the system, the passion that MJ and her team have for their franchisees, and the community-focused culture of the brand. We feel fortunate to be partnering with someone with as much character and knowledge as MJ and believe there’s a great fit both culturally and in terms of our respective skillsets. We’re excited to have the deal closed so we can now focus on driving value for our franchisees,” said Adam Lewin, a partner on the private equity team at Tucker’s Farm and CEO of Wonder Franchises.

This is the third franchise transaction for Tucker’s Farm in recent months, after portfolio company VIO Med Spa, the nation’s med spa franchisor, was successfully sold to Freeman Spogli in September 2024, and Wonder acquired The Decor Group, the leading holiday decorating franchisor with 245 franchised territories and $75 million in system sales, in November 2024.

Riva received HT's Top Women in Restaurant Technology - Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024.  

“I’ve been part of this system for more than 30 years and this company means the world to me. I chose Wonder because I really felt they were the partner that could help improve and grow the system but would do so in a way that took good care of the brand and the franchisees. The Wonder team is smart, young, and energetic – all things that I love – but the thing that really stood out compared to other groups was the way they asked so many questions. They didn’t come in with a ‘we know best’ mindset, they truly wanted to learn about Pizza Factory, understand what’s gotten us this far, and build on what we’re doing. The better I’ve gotten to know their team, the more confident I am that Wonder is the right partner and that the next chapter for Pizza Factory will be a great one.” 

A community staple in 100-plus communities, Pizza Factory has stayed true to its roots with hardworking operators, family-friendly dining and high-quality products, offering fresh, hand-tossed pizza, pasta, wings, sandwiches, salads, beer, wine and more. With multiple restaurant designs, an Express model, and robust off-premise dining options including delivery and mobile ordering through a custom app, Pizza Factory is built to excel in the restaurant industry moving forward.

Smoothie King  announced the appointment of Claudia Schaefer as the company's new Chief Marketing Officer. With an exceptional track record in transforming and elevating well-known restaurant and retail brands, Claudia brings a wealth of experience in driving revenue growth, enhancing profitability, and elevating the customer experience, making her the ideal leader to guide Smoothie King into its next phase of growth.

Schaefer will oversee all marketing efforts for Smoothie King, where she'll focus on further defining the brand's purpose and positioning by leveraging consumer insights to ultimately drive traffic and accelerate sales growth.

Schaefer joins Smoothie King from her most recent role as Chief Experience Officer at Caliber, the $6B parent company of Caliber Collision, where she was instrumental in positioning and marketing the Caliber brand while delivering a seamless and differentiated guest experience. Prior to her tenure at Caliber, Schaefer served as the CMO of multiple QSR and CDR brands, including Jamba and Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen. During both tenures, she successfully increased traffic and sales through strategic marketing efforts focusing on relevance and differentiation. Her past experience also includes significant leadership roles at Brinker International, parent company of Chili's Bar & Grill, where she worked in both marketing and culinary innovation across domestic and global markets.

Smoothie King's new CMO hire follows the brand's most recent quarterly business update and year- end recap. In 2024, Smoothie King opened 84 new stores, including signed agreements for new store openings across 24 states and 39 DMAs. The fourth quarter of 2024 alone saw the opening of 25 stores nationwide, including the opening of the brand's 1,200^th domestic store and continued expansion across Chicago – one of the brand's fastest-growing markets. Smoothie King is setting its sights on an even bigger year in 2025 with accelerated growth, forecasting 105 new store openings across the country.