Pickleman's Online, Mobile Ordering Platforms Leads to More Locations
When Pickleman's, an upscale fast-casual sandwich shop, first opened, we were looking for a technology company that offered point of sale solutions and could grow with our business while sharing our affinity for customer service. In the restaurant industry it is necessary to not only offer quality food and service, but also provide a top-level user interface for your mobile customers. Not only did we find that in Revention, a provider of custom point of sale solutions to the hospitality industry, but we felt confident the company would stay relevant as technology and the customer's needs changed.
As consumers have become constantly connected to their smartphones, mobile ordering is now a necessity in the restaurant industry. We've found that our customers love the ease of use and convenience of ordering via their phones. To tap into that trend, Revention created a custom branded mobile ordering application for Pickleman’s. The application is available for download for both Android devices in the Google Play Store and for Apple devices in the iTunes store.
Pickleman's and Revention began the development of a mobile application in November of 2012. We worked directly with a HungerRush product manager to provide specific branded logos and images to customize the look and feel of our mobile application. Within four weeks we were able to release it to our customers. Because Revention developed both the POS and HungerRush interface, the integration of the menus and coupons was remarkably easy to manage.
The application integrates directly with our POS and stores important information for the customer's convenience such as their credit card and favorite orders. It also allows them to set a store as their preferred location, apply coupon codes and customize their orders. It even offers a fast re-ordering process.
Adopting reliable mobile technology has allowed us to exceed the competition in many ways. Offering customers online ordering as in conjunction with our mobile ordering application has allowed us to increase our average check size. For instance, last year we saw online orders were on average 18% higher than in-store orders. Online, mobile ordering platforms also help to reduce our labor costs. Each time we get a phone call an employee must answer the phone and interpret orders in a noisy environment. This takes time and can cause errors. But when customers provide their orders via our online platforms, our only labor cost is associated with the production and delivery. And, our online ordering system has helped us to scale up from one location to 22 locations in the Midwest.
Because of our positive experience with Revention, it came as no surprise to us when the company recently announced that its online ordering platform – HungerRush – surpassed $1 Billion in mobile ordering sales or that it built more than 1,000 custom mobile applications within the HungerRush Online Ordering framework.
After our success with Revention, we have decided to roll out their new loyalty solution: Honeycomb. It integrates seamlessly with our POS, online ordering and mobile ordering systems. Honeycomb will allow our customers to earn, review and redeem their rewards in-store or online and loyalty members will receive account status updates after order completion. It will also allow us the flexibility to configure and update point and reward configurations at any time.
With three new locations opening up in the next month and as we begin to ramp up our franchise operations, we are excited to be working so closely with Revention.
Kendall Pearl is digital marketing director for Pickleman's Franchising LLC. He has worked for Pickleman's Franchising since 2011. Pearl also works as marketing and web director for Tigers on the Prowl, a fundraising charity that brings together 10 mid-Missouri charities, 10 sponsors and 10 local artists to help raise funds, awareness, and make a difference in the Columbia, Mo., community. Pearl received his BFA, Graphic Design from University of Missouri- Columbia.
As consumers have become constantly connected to their smartphones, mobile ordering is now a necessity in the restaurant industry. We've found that our customers love the ease of use and convenience of ordering via their phones. To tap into that trend, Revention created a custom branded mobile ordering application for Pickleman’s. The application is available for download for both Android devices in the Google Play Store and for Apple devices in the iTunes store.
Pickleman's and Revention began the development of a mobile application in November of 2012. We worked directly with a HungerRush product manager to provide specific branded logos and images to customize the look and feel of our mobile application. Within four weeks we were able to release it to our customers. Because Revention developed both the POS and HungerRush interface, the integration of the menus and coupons was remarkably easy to manage.
The application integrates directly with our POS and stores important information for the customer's convenience such as their credit card and favorite orders. It also allows them to set a store as their preferred location, apply coupon codes and customize their orders. It even offers a fast re-ordering process.
Adopting reliable mobile technology has allowed us to exceed the competition in many ways. Offering customers online ordering as in conjunction with our mobile ordering application has allowed us to increase our average check size. For instance, last year we saw online orders were on average 18% higher than in-store orders. Online, mobile ordering platforms also help to reduce our labor costs. Each time we get a phone call an employee must answer the phone and interpret orders in a noisy environment. This takes time and can cause errors. But when customers provide their orders via our online platforms, our only labor cost is associated with the production and delivery. And, our online ordering system has helped us to scale up from one location to 22 locations in the Midwest.
Because of our positive experience with Revention, it came as no surprise to us when the company recently announced that its online ordering platform – HungerRush – surpassed $1 Billion in mobile ordering sales or that it built more than 1,000 custom mobile applications within the HungerRush Online Ordering framework.
After our success with Revention, we have decided to roll out their new loyalty solution: Honeycomb. It integrates seamlessly with our POS, online ordering and mobile ordering systems. Honeycomb will allow our customers to earn, review and redeem their rewards in-store or online and loyalty members will receive account status updates after order completion. It will also allow us the flexibility to configure and update point and reward configurations at any time.
With three new locations opening up in the next month and as we begin to ramp up our franchise operations, we are excited to be working so closely with Revention.
Kendall Pearl is digital marketing director for Pickleman's Franchising LLC. He has worked for Pickleman's Franchising since 2011. Pearl also works as marketing and web director for Tigers on the Prowl, a fundraising charity that brings together 10 mid-Missouri charities, 10 sponsors and 10 local artists to help raise funds, awareness, and make a difference in the Columbia, Mo., community. Pearl received his BFA, Graphic Design from University of Missouri- Columbia.