News Briefs

Stagg Restaurants, LLC a San Antonio, Texas-based McDonald’s franchisee,  is now offering employees DailyPay.

Through this partnership, S employees can access their earned pay as they earn it. With DailyPay, employees can save, spend, and invest on their own agenda, no longer needing to wait for a scheduled payday.

Stagg Restaurants is among the largest McDonald’s franchisees in Texas, operating 36 McDonald’s restaurants. Experiencing growth, Stagg Restaurants turned to DailyPay to appeal to the innovative workforce needs of QSR employees.

As employee expectations evolve with the times, research shows QSR employees recognize the positive impact of having access to their pay before the traditional bi-weekly paycheck. 

Research conducted by YouGov, commissioned by DailyPay, indicates that over half (56%) of QSR employees say getting paid more frequently at work than they currently do would be “very” or “extremely” beneficial to them. 

In addition, with the ability to strengthen the employee-employer relationship, the research also found that nearly half (49%) of QSR employees surveyed said early access to earned pay would enhance their view of their employer.

“Today’s workforce is looking for employers to support them both inside and outside of the workplace”, says George McClure, Business Director for Stagg Restaurants, LLC. “Partnering with DailyPay was one of many ways we looked to achieve that and indicate our support for our employee's personal and professional wellbeing.”

In addition to offering DailyPay’s On-Demand Pay solution, Stagg Restaurants, LLC has a robust total rewards package. The team offers generous paid time off, traditional medical insurance, a unique bonus structure, free meals, and uniforms, along with access to educational opportunities for high school/higher education, among others.

This partnership comes ahead of Stagg Restaurants, LLC remodeling of its existing locations, and building new restaurants prompting a rehiring and new hiring. 

Flybuy, an AI-powered location engine,  launches its Marketing Suite that is designed to help companies drive incremental revenue by engaging guests at distinct points during the customer journey. 

Traditional marketing methods often fall short in today’s fast-paced, digital-first world. Constant and irrelevant push notifications, emails, and ads can feel intrusive and overwhelming, leading to consumer frustration and disengagement.  According to an Airship report, 60% of consumers opt out of mobile push notifications due to receiving too many irrelevant messages. This results in missed opportunities and lower conversion rates for businesses.

With Flybuy’s Marketing Suite,  messaging is delivered at the right time, in the right place, and with the right message. By leveraging Flybuy’s powerful location-based technology, businesses can connect with customers precisely when they are most likely to engage – all based on their location and stage in their journey.

Flybuy has long been a trusted partner for businesses, optimizing operations by tracking customers throughout their pickup journey to ensure their orders are ready upon arrival. Now, with the launch of the Marketing Suite, Flybuy leverages location and behavioral insights from the customer’s pickup journey to amplify their existing marketing efforts, making them more personalized, timely, and contextually relevant. Using AI-powered insights, Flybuy knows exactly when to push relevant offers to customers, based on their location and stage in the purchase journey, increasing the chances of engagement and conversion. Flybuy has been shown to increase promotional offer take rates by 30% or more and loyalty usage by over 20%, simply by making the messaging to guests more relevant, timely and contextually aware.

Key Benefits of Flybuy’s Marketing Suite:

• Drive Foot Traffic: Reach customers when they are nearby and encourage them to visit your store.
• Increase Basket Size: Prompt impulse purchases and upsells by presenting timely, personalized offers.
• Boost App Downloads: Encourage customers to download your app for a more personalized experience.
• Enhance In-Store Offers: Present special promotions or loyalty rewards when customers enter or are near your location.
• Loyalty Programs: Remind customers to redeem or earn loyalty rewards based on their actions and location. 

For businesses with retail media networks, Flybuy provides real-time, context-aware promotional messaging, ensuring that marketing messages are not only timely but also relevant to the customer’s needs. Flybuy’s Marketing Suite is designed to help businesses achieve higher conversion rates, better customer experiences, and increased revenue by ensuring every message delivered is timely, personalized, and impactful. Now, businesses can capitalize on Flybuy’s existing operational insights to supercharge their marketing efforts and truly connect with their customers.

Wonder, the delivery-centric restaurant platform launched by former Walmart ecommerce chief Marc Lore, has raised an additional $600 million in funding, according to HT's sister publication Chain Store Age.

The company operates as a virtual food hall, integrating a wide array of first-party and third-party restaurants into a single app experience. Wonder currently has 45 physical locations for both walk-in orders and deliveries across New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. It plans to double that number to 90 by year’s end, opening new stores at a pace of roughly one per week.

The company continued to invest in proprietary technology to drive operational efficiencies, including back-end technology focused on driving down food waste; next-gen kitchen designs to improve throughput and consistency, and an enhanced delivery network, reports Chain Store Age. 

Wonder has made strategic acquistions since its founding in 2021. In November, Wonder acquired Grubhub from Just Eat Takeaway for $650 million. The company also owns meal kit provider Blue Apron and food media platform Tastemade.

Digitalization has delivered Best Western Plus Palatin Hotel Wiesloch greater operational efficiency and seamless coordination between numerous hotel, event and cultural departments, following the implementation of SIHOT’s customized hotel and event management system.

The convention center, theatre and cultural center with hotel and high-class restaurant hosting over 100,000 customers annually required a solution to underpin complex management for facilitating a wide-range of diverse events. Working in partnership with SIHOT, a hotel management systems, Palatin Hotel implemented the customized solution to minimize the workload for departments and create transparent and less redundant work processes.

With a need for a robust and agile platform for a range of complex events and conferences, SIHOT suite of products is uniquely placed with its fully integrated and comprehensive hotel and event management platform to underpin the entire operations at Palatin Hotel. Through SIHOT.C&B, staff experience is significantly enhanced with a series of customized templates supporting the journey from offer to invoicing, automatically processing all information and centrally available to all departments.

Boosting operational efficiency and directly adding to guest satisfaction, the tailored and integrated solution significantly enhances the customer journey for the 134-room hotel. This includes digital check-in and self-service options, accelerating F&B service speed with mobile ordering and automatic billing integration, while improving overall internal coordination for smoother operations.

“SIHOT is like a Swiss Army knife. There are endless possibilities for using all its functions,” said Matthias Eckstein, Hotel Director, Best Western Plus Palatin Hotel. “SIHOT offers much greater customization options. Since our individual departments have very high standards, we had previously been unable to find a suitable PMS partner — until we discovered SIHOT. For the first time, we felt that everyone could tailor the system exactly to their needs.”

Palatin Hotel uses a combination of SIHOT products including its property management system (SIHOT.PMS), point of sale system (SIHOT.POS), meetings and events management platform (SIHOT.C&B), guest self-service check-in terminal (SIHOT.KIOSK), and the guest-friendly check-in app (SIHOT.GO!).

Nicole Kowalski, Reception Manager, Palatin Hotel said: “With SIHOT.KIOSK our guests can check in easily and independently directly at the terminal, which enables everything from registration to room card coding. Payment is also possible at the terminal or with the guest mobile app. This has allowed us to significantly increase our service level and improve our processes.”

Carsten Wernet, Chief Executive of SIHOT said, “Palatin Hotel’s decision to choose SIHOT as the new PMS was driven by one key factor: customization. Given its numerous departments and specialized requirements, the hotel needed a solution that could adapt flexibly to its operations. With SIHOT, we offer precisely that — nearly every product can be customized to fit each department’s specific needs. Additionally, our system enables seamless integration between different areas such as the hotel, restaurant, parking garage and event management, providing greater efficiency and capturing revenue at every touch point.”

Much more than just a place to stay, managing a public carpark with 416 spaces, the Palatin is also a central hub for the region. Read the full case study to find out how SIHOT developed a solution for full digitalization of the hotel’s needs.

Cloudbeds, a hospitality management software platform, announced a strategic partnership with STAAH, a pioneer in hotel distribution technology. The partnership aims to equip hoteliers with advanced tools for efficient channel management.

The new integration will offer real-time data synchronization, centralized inventory management, enhanced reporting, and an improved guest experience – supporting properties in driving revenue and operational excellence.

Through the partnership, hotels utilizing Cloudbeds’ property management system will gain access to STAAH’s cloud-based channel management solutions, improving connections with online travel agencies and expanding their direct booking capabilities.

Adam Harris, CEO of Cloudbeds, said: “Distribution strategy separates market leaders from the rest in today's digital landscape. Our strategic partnership with STAAH combines two best-in-class technologies to deliver what our customers need most: more online revenue opportunities and operational efficiency. Together, we’re delivering unique solutions that help properties create exceptional guest experiences.”

Tony Howlett, CEO of STAAH, added: “Our vision at STAAH is to create a streamlined, interconnected hospitality landscape. By teaming up with Cloudbeds, we are taking a significant stride toward enabling hotels to harness data effectively, leading to quicker, better decision-making. This partnership is a testament to our dedication to revolutionizing hotel operations globally.”

The joint effort will provide hoteliers with critical tools to streamline their operations and manage hotel distribution more effectively, enabling timely data-driven decisions and heightened guest satisfaction.