Panera Bread plans to rollout of Amazon One as a loyalty identification for MyPanera, its loyalty program with 52+ million members, and a contactless payment method.

The technology is deployed at select bakery-cafes in Panera’s hometown of St. Louis with plans to expand to additional locations in the coming months. Panera is the first national restaurant company to use Amazon One as both a way for guests to pay and access their loyalty account with their palm.

Panera guests who link their MyPanera account to Amazon One will enjoy the convenience of fast payments, as well as tailored meal recommendations from Panera associates based on their preferences and previous orders. After a simple scan of the palm, Panera associates will be able to greet guests by name, communicate their available rewards, reorder their favorite menu items, or take another order of their choice, extending the guest experience into a true and meaningful relationship. When they are done ordering, guests can simply scan their palm again to pay.

One and Done

First-time Amazon One users can pre-enroll online or sign up when placing their Panera order in the bakery-cafe. It takes a minute for a Panera guest to link their credit card and MyPanera account to their Amazon One ID. If a Panera guest has previously enrolled in Amazon One at Amazon Go, Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, or other locations such as airports and stadiums, they will not need to re-enroll at Panera – they can simply link their MyPanera account to their Amazon One ID online or in store. Enrollment in Amazon One is voluntary and includes opt-in consent, and guests can choose to use Amazon One for loyalty linking, payment or both.

“Collaborating with Amazon Web Services to bring this service into our bakery-cafes is a natural extension of the tech-forward, guest-centric digital thinking that Panera is known for,” said Niren Chaudhary, CEO of Panera Bread and Panera Brands. “Our philosophy has been centered around leveraging best-in-class technology to create a better Panera experience and using that to deepen our relationship with our loyal guests. Introducing Amazon One, as a frictionless, personalized, and convenient service, is another way we’re redefining the loyalty experience.”

Panera Bread is committed to providing innovative tech-driven solutions for its guests. Guest participation is opt-in only and Panera does not store personal palm data.

Any private and personal data shared via  Amazon One is securely stored and protected by multiple security controls, and palm images are never stored on the Amazon One device. All images are encrypted and sent to a highly secure area custom-built for Amazon One in the cloud where palm signatures are created. Amazon One is an optional service. 

HID, a worldwide leader in trusted identity and physical security solutions, today announced its inaugural State of the Security Industry Report, which gathered responses from 2,700 partners, end users, and security and IT personnel across a range of titles and organization sizes representing over 11 industries.

By looking at what’s driving the next innovations and the technology that supports them, the security industry is empowered to create more value for its organizations and its people. Conducted in the Fall of 2022, the survey reveals five common threads, as follows:

1. Nearly 90% of respondents acknowledge sustainability as an important issue

End users are increasingly demanding that suppliers provide footprint transparency in terms of their operations, product sourcing and research and development practices, with 87% of respondents stating that sustainability ranks as “important to extremely important.” Mirroring this trend, 76% said they have seen the importance of sustainability increasing for their customers.

To support this growing demand, security teams are leveraging the cloud and the Internet of Things, even more, to optimize processes and reduce resources. Additionally, new products and solutions are being strategically developed to address sensible energy usage, waste reduction and resource optimization.

2. Most organizations still need to fully embrace identity “as-a-service” (IDaaS) to support hybrid work

The majority of survey respondents—81% of them—stated they are offering a hybrid work model. As an example, 67% of respondents state that multifactor authentication and passwordless authentication are most important to adapting to hybrid and remote work, while 48% point to the importance of mobile and digital IDs.

Interestingly, the survey also reveals almost half of the organizations aren't quite ready to implement a comprehensive IDaas strategy.

3. Digital IDs and mobile authentication to propel many more mobile access deployments

Identification and authentication are more commonly completed via mobile devices, including smartphones and wearables. The growing popularity of digital wallets from major players such as Google, Apple and Amazon is a key driver of this trend. And expanded capabilities allow smartphone users, for example, to add keys, IDs and digital documents directly in the wallet app. These include, but are not limited to, drivers’ licenses in eight states, verifiable COVID-19 vaccination information, employee badges, student IDs and hotel room keys.

Commercial real estate companies (40%) are outpacing other verticals as large commercial real estate firms are leveraging mobile access as part of their larger tenant experience apps, according to the HID survey.

4. Nealy 60% of respondents see the benefit of contactless biometrics

Biometric technologies represent a major break from more conventional means of access control. Using biometrics as an additional authenticating factor (e.g., biometric scans to verify an individual’s physical identity) can help organizations eliminate unauthorized access and fraud. The importance of this trend is exemplified in the survey data, which shows that 59% of respondents are currently using, planning to implement, or at least testing biometric technologies in the near future.

5. Supply chain issues continue to be a concerning factor, but optimism begin to emerge

According to the survey, 74% of respondents say they were impacted by supply chain issues in 2022, although 50% are optimistic that conditions will improve in 2023. Most affected are commercial real estate companies, with 78% citing supply chain problems as their main concern.

More than two-thirds of organizations with fewer than 1,000 employees indicate that they were highly impacted by supply chain issues in 2022, but they are also the most optimistic that these issues will resolve in 2023.

By better understanding the aforementioned topics, security professionals will be better prepared to adapt faster, deliver exceptional digital plus physical experiences, and capitalize on breakthrough innovations in solutions and services. Read the survey in its entirety here.

Le Bristol Paris announced its exclusive entry into the Web3 ecosystem. As the first hotel of its standing to expose itself to blockchain and cryptocurrencies, Oetker Collection’s Masterpiece Hotel in the heart of Paris seeks to embrace its legacy as a house of distinction as it disrupts traditional codes to meet demand for increased connectivity and experiential community.

By taking this pioneering step forward into the digital future of luxury hotels, Le Bristol Paris’ objective is to create experiences that expand the hotel’s influence and offer new ways to interact with its extraordinary art de vivre.

The multi-phase project to welcome Web3 audiences to Le Bristol Paris will begin with a very limited drop of 11 NFTs, ‘Le Bristol Unlocked’, created in collaboration with the start-up Metav.rs. Each NFT owner is granted membership to Le Bristol’s L’H3ritage Club.

Privileges such as anytime access to dedicated and secret menus at the hotel’s restaurants and weekly access to its fabled rooftop swimming pool (normally open to guests only) will be proposed among other perks. In addition, each NFT unlock doors to one of 11 rewards encompassing ‘money-can’t-buy’ experiences never offered before by Le Bristol.

In this first foray into Web3, Le Bristol Paris is becoming the first Palace hotel to create a blockchain community, erecting the bridge between timeless excellence and disruptive new technology.

Le Bristol Paris’ 11 limited-edition ‘Le Bristol Unlocked’ NFTs will be available for purchase in cryptocurrency exclusively on April 14, 2023 via https://www.oetkercollection.com/hotels/le-bristol-paris/lh3ritage/

Crystalbrook Collection Hotels & Resorts, a group of eight luxury properties along the east coast of Australia, has turned to Hapi to connect several guest data sources and help develop 360-degree insights and personalized guest experiences in Salesforce.

Through a new integration with SevenRooms, a global guest experience and retention platform for the hospitality industry,Hapi is combining and normalizing insightful Food and Beverage data from 16 restaurants and bars across Crystalbrook’s portfolio, alongside guest data from their accommodation PMS platform. This information is delivered to Salesforce through a single data stream, unlocking the ability for Crystalbrook to create personalized F&B offers, targeted messages and enhance their holistic guest experiences.

“We wanted to understand how our customers are dining in our restaurants and bars, and merge that information with their accommodation profiles, so we know our customer from a 360-degree point of view,” said Joe Dwyer, Group IT Director at Crystalbrook. “This data helps us fully understand a guest’s lifetime value, and opens the door for Crystalbrook to provide personalized offers and experiences designed to drive loyalty.”

Through the new Hapi-SevenRooms integration, hoteliers now have the ability to transform their guest experiences by building single guest profiles with data from across their properties, and implementing personalized customer journeys that connect with, and retain, customers. 

By tightly integrating the F&B program with the hotel, operators will see greater efficiencies, increased revenue, and a better guest experience. In the Marketing department, combining profiles and preferences from the dining outlets and the hotel systems provides much more guest data to create true personalized offers. 

Now, guest data from the restaurants can be shared with Salesforce Marketing Cloud to power automated marketing campaigns. For example, hotels can automatically target return guests with personalized offers based on their past dining history, stay history, or timely events, such as an anniversary or birthday. 

“By adding their restaurant data into Salesforce alongside their hotel data, hotels now know more about their guests than ever before and can provide personalized touches across the entire guest journey,” said Luis Segredo, Hapi CEO. 

"We're excited to partner with Hapi to provide hoteliers with the deep customer insights they need in order to continue enhancing the guest experience for consumers," said Brent-Stig Kraus, CRO at SevenRooms. "The ability to own and leverage guest data will not only help hoteliers increase profitability, but also support them in building direct guest relationships, driving repeat business, and delivering exceptional experiences."

 Sabre Corporation, a software and technology provider that powers the global travel industry, announced an agreement with Capillary Technologies, a loyalty management and customer data platform provider that delivers AI-based, cloud-native SaaS programs and solutions. Through the agreement, Sabre has incorporated the Capillary Loyalty Management solution into the Sabre platforms for airlines and hoteliers, adding Capillary’s advanced loyalty management capabilities to their comprehensive offerings.

The Sabre and Capillary agreement will provide: 

●        Valuable insights into customer loyalty data through real-time analytics;

●        New opportunities for end-to-end loyalty management and incremental revenue opportunities for airlines and hoteliers; and 

●        Enhanced customer experiences across the entire traveler journey.

For Sabre Hospitality customers, the Capillary hospitality platform will be integrated with Sabre Hospitality SynXis applications, including Central Reservations, Property Hub, Voice Agent, and Booking Engine. For airlines, Capillary’s loyalty management solution can be integrated with SabreSonic, Customer Insights, Payment, and Dynamic Rewards products.  

The Capillary Technologies solution goes beyond traditional points-focused loyalty programs to enable brands across travel, and other sectors, to enhance consumer engagement through digital transformation. Using AI to interpret comprehensive data sets, Capillary Technologies provides meaningful, real-time insights into customer preferences, providing recommendations to empower airlines and hoteliers to step-up their relationships with travelers, while enhancing revenue-creation opportunities, through truly personalized interactions across all traveler touchpoints. Capillary Technologies has been named a Leader in The Forrester Wave TM : Loyalty Technology Solutions, Q1 2023 report. Capillary’s Loyalty+ has earned 5/5 for 13 of the 28 criteria evaluated by Forrester.

“Traveler needs are evolving rapidly as we move through this post-pandemic world,” said Joe Doran, Senior Vice President, Capillary Technologies. “And it is essential that loyalty management solutions are at the forefront of this travel evolution to enable airlines and hotels to attract, retain, and delight their travelers through real-time advanced analytics and recommendations. We’re incredibly excited to combine our own expertise with Sabre’s so together we can bring Sabre customers, and the wider travel industry the customizable, integrated, cloud-based loyalty management solution they need for success in today’s dynamic travel landscape.”

With offices around the world, including presence across the United States, India, the Middle East and Asia, Capillary Technologies brings a global understanding and focus to loyalty management.

“I’m delighted that through this alliance we can provide our airline partners with a novel approach to loyalty management that can be seamlessly integrated with their existing technology so they can rapidly respond to market conditions,” said Corrie DeCamp, Senior Vice President, Product Management, Sabre. “Our joint loyalty management solution will enable airlines to stay connected with their flyers, understand their preferences, reward their loyalty and improve customer engagement through AI-driven recommendations that create incremental value for our customers and their frequent travelers.”

“I’m thrilled that we are further enhancing our hospitality offering through Capillary,” said Frank Trampert, Senior Vice President, Global Managing Director of Community Sales for Sabre Hospitality. It’s vital that hoteliers can understand ever-evolving guest preferences and expectations to create differentiated experiences and keep their guests delighted at every travel touchpoint.”