Shipley Do-Nuts Finds Efficiency & ROI With SynergySuite

Shipley Do-Nuts is booming. The Houston-based chain — founded in 1936 and wildly popular in Texas and Louisiana for its 60+ varieties of do-nuts and its savory kolaches — has experienced 26 percent unit growth since 2018. But that’s just the beginning. Currently spanning more than 330 units in 10 states, Shipley is poised to grow another 90 percent over the next five years, already expanding across the Southeast — including Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, and Oklahoma, and expanding its presence in Colorado. 

Shipley is even introducing its own brand of coffee. The brand has come a long way since its founding more than 85 years ago, when do-nuts sold for a nickel a dozen. 

Of course, exponential growth can pose challenges. Upgrading the venerable brand — and its hundreds of franchisees — to the most effective technology solutions has been a game changer, says Kerry Leo, Vice President of Technology, Shipley Do-nuts. “We’re implementing a new POS platform at all shops, incorporating revenue management and online ordering.”

A Back-of-House Solution

SynergySuite, a cloud-based back-of-house solution, has helped Shipley manage its growth and coordinate operations and data among company shops and franchisees. “Our franchises were fragmented, using lots of different solutions. We needed a tech partner we knew was going to be stable, a solution we could build from the ground up that was easy to use. SynergySuite allows us to quickly plug in pre-built tools and build analytics,” says Leo. 

Enterprise restaurant brands need a single BOH solution that offers easy, fully integrated tools. For operators at both the franchise and corporate levels, accurate, real-time data provides the information necessary for making well-informed decisions in day-to-day operations as well as big-picture strategy. Hospitality Technology’s 2022 Restaurant Technology Study: Making Magic Happen underscores restaurants’ desire for integration, mobility, and analytics maturity. SynergySuite allows operators to leverage mobile devices for operations and training, enhancing everything from food prep to safety and compliance.

Moving Forward

“Our franchisees are now using SynergySuite to access data in real-time, about every 15 minutes,” says Leo. “This allows each shop to see its own P+L, to take into account labor trends and inventory, and to manage like a business. At the same time, we’re able to monitor data across units for bigger trends and business intelligence.” And SynergySuite has accommodated the needs and schedules of each franchisee, turning on modules one at a time when they need to.

“SynergySuite gives us a good baseline to assess ROI — where we are, where we’re going,” says Leo. “We can now get into a customer data platform, a loyalty platform, and really understand what our biggest sellers are. We can do competitive analysis among franchisees, and segment by geographic regions.”

SynergySuite’s intelligent, integrated BOH tools have helped Shipley Do-Nuts unlock agility and efficiency as the brand enjoys rapid growth.

Learn more at SynergySuite.com