Global payments provider Elavon has partnered with The Digital Line (TDL) on a voice-activated solution for the hospitality industry. The solution – Audico – utilizes the Amazon Alexa device to deliver a variety of voice-driven services. Elavon is the exclusive payments provider for the Audico solution in hospitality, globally.

Hemlata Narasimhan, Elavon Merchant Services President in Europe, says, “Virtual assistant technology is the future of hospitality, and we’re thrilled to be powering the payments behind Audico. This is all about improving the customer experience, and a large part of this is seamless payments. We’re pleased to be partnering with Amazon’s approved partner The Digital Line to make this happen.”

Audico is unique in the UK market, and has already been implemented at the world-famous Ascot Racecourse in Southeast England, where premium customers can call for betting services, order food and drinks, and purchase merchandise from their private boxes all with a few simple words to Alexa. The audible command is then relayed to staff as a Card Not Present transaction, and payment is made using a pre-determined account preference such as a credit card.

Audico is also being explored as a room service solution in hotels, and in premium hospitality areas at other venues and stadiums, as well as providing a landmark series of services in the health care industry.

George Vaughan, The Digital Line’s CEO, says, “This partnership represents a unique opportunity for two recognized brands to collaborate on initiatives that will revolutionize multiple business verticals, including hospitality, venues and health care, delivering a level of digital transformation not seen before.”

The Wendy's Company announced a new partnership with Pipedream, a hyperlogistics company, to pilot its underground autonomous robot system with the goal of delivering digital food orders from the kitchen to designated parking spots in seconds, for faster and more convenient pick-up experiences. As the first quick service restaurant (QSR) to pilot this cutting-edge technology, the partnership marks another bold step for Wendy's in driving industry innovation as it strives to serve digital-forward customers with greater ease, speed and accuracy.

"We know that serving orders quickly and accurately leads to increased customer satisfaction," said Deepak Ajmani, U.S. Chief Operations Officer, The Wendy's Company. "Pipedream's Instant Pickup system has the potential to unlock greater mobile order speed of service and accuracy, enabling us to consistently deliver hot and fresh Wendy's products to our fans."

Pipedream's technology is designed to make digital order pick-up fast, reliable and invisible. By connecting the Wendy's kitchen to an Instant Pickup portal positioned outside the restaurant, this first-of-its-kind delivery system is designed to provide digital customers with a fast and convenient pick-up option without having to leave their car and increase efficiencies for restaurant crew members by streamlining digital order pick-up points. The technology uses autonomous robots to transport meals underground and deliver at the car-side Instant Pickup portal.

"At Wendy's, we are consistently innovating to meet our customers however they choose to engage with us," said Matt Spessard, Senior Vice President and Global Chief Technology Officer, The Wendy's Company. "As mobile ordering preferences increase, we're thrilled to be the first quick service restaurant to partner with Pipedream, leveraging their unique delivery technology and system with the goal of reinventing digital pick-ups to bring more Wendy's to more people as quickly and efficiently as possible." 

"We're proud to partner with an iconic, innovative brand like Wendy's to bring the future of mobile order pick-up to the quick service industry," said Garrett McCurrach, CEO, Pipedream. "By solving order handoff, the final leg of the digital experience, our Instant Pickup technology allows Wendy's restaurant team members to focus on what matters: serving delicious, high-quality food and connecting with customers in this digital-first world."

Wow Bao, a fast-casual Asian concept, announces the expansion of its web3 strategy, launching Digital CollectaBaos to enhance its points-based Bao Bucks loyalty program.  

“Wow Bao has always been a pioneer in enhancing the dining experience with technology, forging a path for today’s innovations to become mainstream, " said Geoff Alexander, President & CEO of Wow Bao. “By creating a digital collectible club, Wow Bao is leveling up the everyday loyalty program, and welcoming all diners to the future.” Alexander shared his brand's tips for creating lifetime loyalty at MURTEC Executive Summit.

• Wow Bao Enters Next Frontier with Phased Web3 Strategy; Announces NFT-Based Membership Pass and Club

In November, Wow Bao laid out its phased web3 strategy, which included this NFT-based extension of their Bao Bucks rewards program and the launch of metaverse vending machines. Their entry into this technology is a clear demonstration of the real-world utility of digital collectibles.  

Customers have an initial opportunity to purchase these lively digital CollectaBaos from a first course minting, gaining access to Wow Bao’s cheeky yet chic Hot Buns Club. Club benefits include 10% off wowbao.com orders, 10% off Wow Bao merchandise, double Bao Bucks points, and chances to win additional CollectaBaos, free meals, and more. Additional courses, or mintings, of future CollectaBaos will offer more benefits and perks. Details of how to become an exclusive member can be found at the new Hot Buns Club landing page. 

Wow Bao commissioned NFT artist, MANOVERMARS, aka MoM, to create the edgy, one-of-a-kind digital imprints. MoM is a full-time freelance artist who has worked with web2 brands like Macy’s, Visa, and Specialized, as well as web3 brands like 3Landers, Ben Mezrich, Froggy Friends, and many others.  

Wow Bao’s entrance into the digital collectible space cements its commitment to continually exploring leading innovative technology and finding unique ways to reach new diners. By engaging customers in new ways, the company continues to drive engagement and loyalty. It follows its early use of self-ordering kiosks in 2010, a fully automated front-of-house animated cubby experience in 2017, and, since 2020, the unprecedented growth of over 700 locations through their virtual dark kitchen program.   

While Wow Bao has chosen Devour as its web3 ordering partner, Wow Bao is also partnering with Flaunt to both mint its Digital CollectaBaos and to integrate the program with its existing Bao Bucks Rewards program that is powered by Paytronix. 

Today, Withe, the on-demand video interview and virtual hiring event platform that aims to solve volume hiring challenges for enterprise hospitality staffing and recruiting teams, announced the close of its $1.1M USD pre-seed round, led by San Francisco-based Focal. Withe’s SaaS platform is designed for enterprises that hire hundreds to thousands of people at the same time, such as staffing and recruiting teams in the tourism and hospitality industry. With the funds, the company is planning on further expanding its technical team and building its roadmap, alongside its first enterprise customer, Fortune 1000 industry leader, Trueblue, as a design partner.

“Today, it simply takes too long to get qualified candidates in front of great companies. What we’ve created in Withe is a platform that benefits both recruiters and candidates by providing them with an on-demand and seamless experience,” said Daniel Shalinsky, CEO and co-founder of Withe. “This funding will propel the next phase of Withe by enabling us to continue to hire the right people while we expand further into new markets,” said Shalinsky.

Withe reduces interview time by 82%, providing enterprise hiring teams with seamless scheduling and better utilization of their most valuable resource: time. Industry leaders who rely on Withe for virtual hiring fairs experience notable decreases in time-to-hire and improved efficiencies across the board.

It’s no secret that today’s market is competitive when it comes to hiring the best talent swiftly. With post-pandemic recovery efforts and the North American spring and summer tourism season upon us, hospitality brands are looking to fill hundreds, sometimes thousands, of positions at the same time—more rapidly than ever. Withe is confident that its platform will be turnkey for the industry’s volume hiring needs in 2023 and beyond. 

Business at the Hotel Nikko San Francisco is booming, especially since the property secured a spot on Forbes’ 2022 list of the 13 best hotels in San Francisco. With travelers’ eyes fixed on the luxury boutique hotel in Union Square, the hotel’s management team began looking for new financial management tools capable of delivering macro and micro analysis of numerous data sets and assisting with planning for future investments into the property. PVNG enterprise accounting and Targetvue budgeting and forecasting solutions from Aptech fit the bill for their ability to affordably give operators the insight, flexibility and control they desired.

“When we began searching for technology to replace our previous solution, we wanted tools that could drill down into every account and help provide context behind our performance,” said Vincent Rafanan, Hotel Nikko San Francisco chief financial officer. “Budgeting and forecasting was a top priority. Previously, we relied on a standalone system to oversee these processes. Once we met with Aptech, we immediately saw how easy it was to connect Targetvue to the cloud and to PVNG, then share information seamlessly between the two systems. Today, our team is easily comparing and contrasting any scenario from month to month. These tools have been invaluable for digging into last year’s reporting and preparing forecasts for the year to come.”

Targetvue is designed to provide “one version of the truth” throughout an organization. By providing variance analytics, data visualization and version control, this tool helps hotels meet future growth goals by utilizing a single, centrally maintained set of database models. By adopting this user-friendly software, hotels can eliminate the need to correct and recombine multiple spreadsheets for consolidating and reporting.

PVNG elevates hoteliers’ ability to monitor their success. The tool features Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, General Ledger, Statistics, Financials, and Bank Reconciliation modules and seamless web browser navigation allowing hotels to upload their accounting data remotely. PVNG can be deployed as a hosted service and also offers OCR invoice processing, a myriad of payment options, drill-down capabilities in financial statements and reports, and the ability to handle single or multi-property accounting.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Hotel Nikko San Francisco and are delighted at the success they are having with Targetvue and PVNG,” said Jill Wilder, Vice President at Aptech. “Luxury hotels like the Hotel Nikko frequently add new services and amenities. This, combined with the wide range of offerings the hotel provides, makes accounting, budgeting, and forecasting all the more complex. PVNG streamlines common daily procedures, while Targetvue eliminates the need to manage budgets across multiple spreadsheets, preserving a single view of a hotel’s true operating potential across the entire organization. These capabilities are helping hotels of any size maintain success and momentum, heedless of the size of their aspirations.”

The 531-room Hotel Nikko San Francisco is known for its high-end Japanese-inspired decor, a wide array of amenities, and attention to detail. Located at Union Square's gateway, it is surrounded by retail stores, boutiques, and various restaurants. The property is convenient to San Francisco’s Theater District and is renowned for its 10,000-square-foot health club, the Anzu restaurant, and a glass-enclosed swimming pool.

Craftable, a profit management platform, celebrates one year of partnership with Square, the technology company that makes commerce and financial services easy and accessible. Craftable and its partners Square, Paytronix and 7Shifts will be hosting an activation at this year’s National Restaurant Association (NRA) Conference at McCormick Place (2301 S King Dr) in Chicago, IL on May 21st from 3-5 PM at Square’s booth, #5821.

Last May, Craftable and Square announced a collaboration to provide hospitality operators with full visibility into their operations, connecting purchases with sales data and labor in real-time with Craftable's Foodager, Bevager and Analytics platforms.

To showcase the results of the integration, Craftable and Square recently teamed up to unveil a case study titled “How Square + Craftable helped NYC’s brewery-gastropub manage operating costs.” Utilizing the easy-to-use Square for Restaurants platform, Torch & Crown’s team, led under the direction of entrepreneurs Joe Correia and John Dantzler, was able to efficiently take orders, make menu changes on the fly and keep orders moving through the kitchen. 

After using Square’s seamlessly integrated platform to run their operations, they decreased time spent on invoices by 6 hours and increased touchless payments by 40%. By leveraging Craftable’s integration with Square, they reduced food costs by over 5% and reduced beverage costs by a whopping 12%.

“We are proud to serve the hospitality industry alongside Square, a trusted leader in restaurant technology,” said Samuel Zats, co-founder and CEO of Craftable. “Our tech platforms seek to empower operators within the industry with the financial and business operations data to optimize business practices, allow teams to run more efficiently, and implement strategic tactics to support immediate and long-term growth.” 

Craftable will be debuting its happy hour style activation at the NRA Conference, notably the largest gathering of food service professionals in the Western hemisphere. During the activation, attendees will enjoy an open bar while learning about how the four leaders in hospitality tech–Craftable, Square, Paytronix and 7Shifts–work seamlessly to improve efficiency, streamline operations and provide the data and insights for restaurant and bar operators to improve their bottom lines.