News Briefs

SpotOn (www.spoton.com), a software and payment company in the U.S., announced that it has reached a strategic agreement to sell its Sports & Entertainment business to Shift4, while retaining select assets to support the growth of its restaurant business. The move will streamline the SpotOn business, focusing resources on the restaurant industry. SpotOn Restaurant has delivered high double-digit growth year over year and has been rated the #1 restaurant point-of-sale by real users.

“The unique structure of this deal enables SpotOn to accelerate product development in support of our restaurant business while ensuring that our Sports & Entertainment clients are well supported going forward,” said Zach Hyman, co-founder and co-CEO of SpotOn. “This move enables us to double down on our Restaurant business, providing the necessary focus, resources, and investment to become the best restaurant technology company in the business.”

Focus & Investment in Restaurants

Following the deal, SpotOn will focus teams and investment to supercharge growth in the Restaurant space. The company began serving restaurants in 2019 and has aggressively grown its market share each year. SpotOn Restaurant is now one of the most comprehensive, end-to-end restaurant technology platforms on the market, giving restaurant operators everything they need to drive profit - from an intuitive point-of-sale system with solutions for online ordering, reservations, and labor management to hardware designed to improve employee efficiency and service speed. Like all SpotOn products, it includes marketing tools, comprehensive reporting, and 24/7/365 personalized customer support.

NerdWallet recently named SpotOn Restaurant the best customizable restaurant POS system. It was also named the top-rated restaurant point-of-sale over Toast, Clover, and TouchBistro, according to Capterra’s Competitive Comparison report. Based on Capterra reviews from real restaurant operators, SpotOn received the highest marks among its competition in functionality, customer support, and value for money.

Financial Technology Partners (FT Partners) served as the exclusive strategic and financial advisor to SpotOn on this transaction.

Domino's Pizza Inc. introduces its new and improved loyalty program. 

Domino's Rewards offers loyalty members even more opportunities to earn and redeem points across its corporate and franchise store locations. Domino's enhanced rewards program allows customers to:

• Earn points for less
  • Loyalty members will now earn 10 points on every order of $5 or more
• Redeem points for even more menu items – and earn free Domino's after just two orders
  • Members can redeem a variety of points for more menu items:
    • 20 points: A free dipping cup, a 16-piece order of Parmesan Bread Bites or a 20 oz. drink
    • 40 points: An order of Bread Twists or Stuffed Cheesy Bread
    • 60 points: A medium, two-topping pizza; pasta; Oven-Baked Sandwich; or a 3-piece order of Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes
• Earn more rewards
  • Loyalty perks are now even better, as members will have exclusive access to member-only deals, special discounts and opportunities to earn bonus points!

"We are thrilled to give the brand's loyal customers additional ways to earn free Domino's items more often," said Mark Messing, Domino's vice president of digital experience and loyalty. "At a time when most brands are scaling back their loyalty programs and making it more difficult to earn and redeem points, Domino's is doing the opposite. We want to make it easier to reward our customers and give them more options so they can get rewarded faster."

Marketing a LTO 

From now until Oct. 22, 2023, rewards members can take advantage of a limited time offer to redeem 20 points for a free order of Domino's new Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread, which is normally a 40-point redemption, in celebration of the product's recent launch. 

Shiji, a global hospitality technology innovator, has partnered with IPORT, an award-winning manufacturer known for enhancing the usability of iPads and iPhones, to introduce an all-in-one software solution for hotel restaurants. This collaboration will provide hoteliers with a seamless combination of a tablet and payment device to maximize their F&B operations.

The integrated iOS and payment device solution simplifies guest service for hotel restaurant servers, providing them with an effortless tool to cater to their guests' needs. As a certified Apple partner, Shiji and IPORT guarantee exceptional performance and reliability. Hoteliers can choose from multiple device options, including iPad Pro, iPad Mini, and iPhone, ensuring flexibility and compatibility with their operations.

“IPORT products are built around modularity and flexibility that empower our hospitality customers to do more with the iOS platform. We are thrilled to partner with a leading iPad and iPhone cloud PMS and POS platform provider like Shiji,” said Chris Lawson, Head of Partnerships, IPORT. “We look forward to innovating with Shiji in disrupting legacy, monolithic providers who have limited the industry from harnessing the power of iOS and mobility. The future is bright, and the possibilities are endless with IPORT, iOS, and Shiji.”

"The partnership with IPORT is a significant milestone for Shiji in our commitment to provide innovative technology solutions for the hospitality industry," said Ryan King, Senior Vice President of Shiji in the Americas. "By combining our expertise with IPORT’s hardware solutions, we empower hoteliers to streamline restaurant operations and deliver exceptional guest experiences. This collaboration represents another step forward in our dedication to driving success in the Americas, and globally."

The tablet and payment device solution seamlessly integrates with multiple payment gateways, allowing hoteliers to choose the system that best suits their needs. By simplifying the payment process, it reduces operational complexities, minimizes errors, and saves valuable time and resources for hoteliers.

SevenRooms, a guest experience and retention platform for the hospitality industry, announced the launch of a new solution for restaurants: Revenue Management. The product serves as an engine for operators to generate more sales and profitability from the same seats, using data science to recommend how to optimize availability and increase table utilization.

To survive current economic conditions, restaurants need solutions that can save them time, reduce their labor costs and increase their sales and profits. Inspired by effective revenue management strategies long-used by the travel industry, Revenue Management extends this practice to the restaurant industry. The product automates these processes without the need for analysts, additional staff or high-priced consultants to manage changes, helping to:

• Fill more seats, more often to increase sales by reducing the time seats sit empty
• Save time and reduce burdensome labor costs by automating in-depth analysis, quickly making changes with a 'do-it-for-me' option
• Provide operators with easy-to-digest insights along with ready-to-use actions that demystify proven steps taken by revenue leaders

Other systems on the market today may offer reporting on a handful of insights, but none help operators immediately action revenue-focused suggestions with a 'do-it-for-me' option that has an instant impact on their operations. Sample actions include recommendations on party size or dining duration configurations, when to institute cancellation policies to decrease last-minute cancellations, floor plan configuration recommendations and more. Diners also benefit, with more available reservations, a better dining experience (e.g. being sat on time and not being rushed out the door) and more unique experiences and offerings to choose from when dining out as operators have more time to focus on the guest experience.

Notably, Revenue Management also gives operators insights into how much demand was missed across booking channels by summarizing data on recent reservation attempts. This helps operators better manage these channels and optimize their books to offer more reservations across their most profitable channels.

"With Revenue Management, we are delivering on our promise to help operators make more money, providing a product that automatically executes on strategies used by the most successful hospitality brands throughout the world – without having to add team members or search out implementation experts," said Angela DeFranco, VP of Product at SevenRooms. "This tool is both proactive and reactive, helping operators uncover untapped opportunities while simultaneously working to identify potentially harmful configuration issues that may restrict venues from maximizing sales and profitability. Today's operators are busier than ever, and we are excited to bring Revenue Management to hospitality operators, helping them automatically fill more seats, more often while continuing to elevate their guest experiences."

Fastpayhotels, a B2B accommodation distribution platforms, announces the launch of Zinantis, a new Distribution Private Club, through DerbySoft, the leading technology provider of high-performance Connectivity services.

Zinantis is a unique brand where members can access direct inventory from global hotel chains, guaranteeing the lowest distribution costs. Stemming from the Greek word for encounter, Zinantis offers frictionless onboarding processes for suppliers and distributors and will enhance the distribution content for all members. Members will benefit from a wide range of data reporting, making Zinantis a win-win for suppliers and distributors.

Elodie Leunen, CEO of Fastpayhotels explains, “Our unique tech will offer a set of exclusive solutions to chains and distributors at a cost of distribution adapted to every business model. We aim to be the distribution club for a group of members who understand the actual environment and want better visibility, not only for bookings but for inventory gaps, and opportunities for sales. It makes sense to us to partner with DerbySoft and combine efforts in creating the best frictionless onboarding process to access chains’ direct inventory.”

The three rules for Zinantis, Trust, Care, and Exchange, promote transparency and unique technology created by Fastpayhotels and DerbySoft to resolve key issues in the distribution process.

“DerbySoft is always on the search for unique opportunities to flex our Connectivity services and technology, and Zinantis is it for this unrivaled members-only club,” states Duane Overgaard, President of Connectivity Services and SVP for DerbySoft. “Zinantis offers technology that coincides with DerbySoft, and we appreciate being involved in this launch.”

Officially launched in September, Zinantis is already live with major global chains, followed by a growing waitlist of suppliers.

Data Travel, LLC announced it has launched Hapi Guest Focus on Salesforce AppExchange, empowering hotel companies to craft personalized guest check-in experiences and drive upsell opportunities right at the front desk.

Hapi Guest Focus is currently available on AppExchange at https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=81d4effe-5575-4b05-a4bd-65282de68eed

Hapi Guest Focus

Hapi Guest Focus empowers front desk team members to leverage the wealth of guest data residing in Salesforce. By transforming this data into actionable insights, hotels can now curate exceptional guest interactions starting at time of arrival. Through the app, front desk agents can curate the check-in process, view guest preferences, and even facilitate restaurant reservations and spa appointments, creating a seamless and personalized arrival experience.

Hotel operators have long struggled to provide a truly personalized guest check-in experience due to the lack of readily available guest preferences and profile information. Now, through Hapi Guest Focus, front-desk employees have that critical information in their immediate purview without having to switch back and forth from one system to the next.

Comments on the News

• "Hapi Guest Focus surfaces the 360 degree view of guests for the agent, creating actionable insights when it matters,” said Luis Segredo, CEO of Data Travel. We are excited as this is only the next step, and more will follow to assist agents."

• "Hapi Guest Focus is a welcome addition to AppExchange, as it accelerates business transformation for customers by enhancing customer experiences,” said Alice Steinglass, Executive Vice President of and General Manager, Platform at Salesforce. “AppExchange is constantly evolving to connect customers with the right apps and experts for their business needs.”