News Briefs

StayNow, a platform focused on supporting independent hotel owners, announced that it has raised $2.2 million in seed funding. The round was led by Fountane, Minnesota based venture studio, with participation from UXReactor and Founders Romal Jayswal and Siddharth Raj. This funding represents a significant step in helping family-run hotels navigate the challenges of a rapidly changing industry.

StayNow, founded by Saawan Patel, Siddharth Raj and Romal Jayswal stems from Patel’s personal experience growing up around motels operated by his family. Independent hotel owners often face pressure from larger corporate brands and the rising costs of maintaining their businesses. StayNow’s mission is to provide these owners with a platform designed to ease operational challenges without the burdens of excessive fees or restrictive terms.

“We're deeply grateful to UXReactor, Fountane, early investors, and the entire StayNow team for their dedication,” said Founder Saawan Patel. “Without their hard work, we wouldn’t have the right technology to face these challenges. Our scalable infrastructure and technology stack are essential to our growth and ongoing efforts to support independent hotels.”

The new funding will be used to continue refining the platform and increase marketing efforts, including collaborations with influencers and paid advertising campaigns. StayNow also plans to market directly within participating hotels, engaging with both owners and travelers.

StayNow's partnership with UXReactor and Fountane ensures the platform is built on a foundation of scalable technology, designed to accommodate long-term growth while providing the tools needed for independent hotels to remain competitive.

Mark Shambura has joined Panera Bread as Chief Marketing Officer. Shambura will lead all aspects of marketing at Panera, including Brand Building, Digital & Loyalty, Product Strategy & Consumer Insights. An accomplished marketing leader with broad expertise in the restaurant industry, Mr. Shambura has previously held marketing leadership roles during pivotal growth periods for top brands including Chipotle, MOD Pizza, and most recently Papa Johns.

"Mark brings an impressive background building brands and leading marketing teams for fast-casual restaurants, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to Panera Bread,” said José Alberto Dueñas, Chief Executive Officer. “As Panera continues to evolve our brand, guided by listening to our guests, Mark’s depth of experience and ability will help drive our growth as a brand that serves great food you feel good about eating.”

Shambura previously served as CMO at Papa Johns, where he led a revitalization of the brand by enhancing its iconic “Better Ingredients, Better Pizza” platform, and developing a more modern, innovative omnichannel approach to transform how Papa Johns appealed to both new and loyal consumers. As Executive Director at Chipotle, Mr. Shambura guided the marketing function through periods of both sustained growth and transition, providing leadership over brand strategy, advertising, digital, social, events/sponsorships, promotions, and field marketing, including playing a key role in spearheading its “Real Ingredients” brand strategy.

“I’m proud to join the Panera Bread team and excited to build on the momentum of the brand's transformation as it continues to evolve in service of our guests,” Mr. Shambura said. “Panera propelled and cemented its position at the top of the fast casual restaurant segment through its promise of high-quality ingredients and freshly prepared food, and I’m thrilled to join a highly talented team to help shape its next chapter.”

Prior to his tenure in the restaurant industry, Mr. Shambura gained extensive marketing agency experience, working with a broad array of top global consumer brands for over a decade. Shambura will report directly to José Alberto Dueñas, Chief Executive Officer, and officially assumed the role of Chief Marketing Officer on July 29, 2024.

Noodles & Company has appointed Stephen Kennedy as Executive Vice President of Marketing, starting November 18, to lead the company's brand strategy and customer growth initiatives.

"Stephen is a transformational marketing leader with over two decades of experience driving growth for iconic brands," said Drew Madsen, CEO at Noodles & Company. "We're excited to add his expertise in digital innovation and customer engagement to our team as we deepen our brand relevance, capture new customers, and drive sustained, profitable growth."

Kennedy most recently served as Vice President of Growth and Strategy at Bounteous, where he spearheaded digital strategies that enhanced brand experiences. At Nestle USA, he led the Marketing Enablement and Consumer Experience teams, increasing media ROI, social engagement, and e-commerce sales through data-driven strategies and a digital-first marketing approach.

At Domino's, Kennedy was pivotal in helping drive record sales growth for the company. In various leadership roles, he guided the insights team on successful product launches and promotions, including Domino's Pan Pizza and the $5.99 Mix and Match deal. Kennedy also spearheaded the pilot, launch, and management of the award-winning Piece of the Pie Rewards program, overseeing all owned and paid digital marketing efforts.

Prior to his time at Domino's, Kennedy worked in brand strategy and insights at General Motors. He began his career in marketing at Borders Group Inc. where he managed CRM and loyalty marketing teams.

Kennedy's accomplishments have contributed to numerous awards from organizations such as Loyalty 360, The ARF David Ogilvy Awards, The Effie Awards, The American Advertising Federation, The In-House Agency Forum, Communication Arts, and Restaurant Business Tech Accelerator.

SoundHound AI, Inc. announced that the company’s AI phone ordering technology has crossed a milestone, processing over 100 million interactions with restaurant customers, including hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of food orders.

SoundHound’s current roster of customers using its Smart Ordering AI service includes Chipotle, Jersey Mike’s, Applebee’s, Habit Burger, Noodles & Company, Beef O’Brady's, Casey’s General Stores, and many more.

This new data from SoundHound pertains to customer interactions handled by the company’s cutting-edge restaurant phone solutions, including those processed by AI phone ordering services developed by SYNQ3 (acquired by SoundHound in early 2024).

The company works with over ten thousand restaurant locations in the U.S. and beyond, with AI phone ordering expanding rapidly as a key channel for restaurants looking to drive revenue, support employees, and provide an accurate, consistent experience for their customers – particularly during busy periods.

“AI phone ordering is no longer just a 'nice to have;' it’s become a critical part of restaurant operations helping many of the best known brands in America deliver the kind of customer experience that they’re celebrated for,” said Steve Bigari, EVP, AI for Restaurants at SoundHound AI. “We’re proud to be the provider of choice for so many of them, and right now we’re rapidly deploying cutting-edge solutions so that restaurants can provide consistently excellent ordering and customer service across every channel.”

SoundHound’s Smart Ordering phone AI takes carryout, curbside, and delivery orders for restaurant operators – processing payment for orders, offering quick and convenient reorders, and integrating with point of sale and loyalty systems. The automated service is also able to provide customizable answers to customer FAQs on topics like opening times and parking.

Recently, SoundHound’s acquisition of Amelia has enabled the business to expand its comprehensive omnichannel solutions and offer marquee clients additional conversational AI support across IT, guest relations, catering, and more.

For more information about SoundHound AI’s restaurant solutions, visit www.soundhound.com.

The data shared in this release by SoundHound relates to interactions – including orders and other customer queries – handled exclusively by the company’s AI phone answering service since 2020.

Fiserv s empowering small business growth through an enhanced suite of industry-specific solutions from Clover. Built with small business owners in mind, these 'all-in-one' solutions combine flexible hardware with software that addresses the unique needs of individual businesses, providing restaurants, retailers, and service-based businesses with the vertical-specific capabilities they need to save time, make money and grow.

“Small business owners are engines of growth, creators of jobs, builders of communities, and drivers of innovation”

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Factors like rising costs, labor shortages, and the ongoing quest to attract and retain customers have led to a host of challenges for small businesses. As technology infiltrates the market to address these issues, small business owners are diverting their attention from their core mission of running their businesses efficiently to managing an assortment of complex systems. Recognizing the unique needs and pain points of today’s entrepreneur, Clover has invested to deliver small businesses with adaptable, vertically-integrated enhancements across three key verticals:

• Restaurants can seamlessly manage front- and back-of-house operations and access real-time kitchen reporting for actionable insights and enhanced operational efficiency.
• Service Businesses can implement a comprehensive appointment booking feature to operate and grow their business, manage employees, engage with customers, and take payments using a streamlined POS experience. In addition to appointment scheduling and employee management, the solution features a customizable website.
• Retailers can enhance their presence through an omnichannel integration with customizable websites and digital storefronts, giving customers an end-to-end e-commerce experience. Retail solutions also support variance management, Buy Online/Pick up In-store (BOPIS) options, and merchant delivery as fulfillment methods.

"Small business owners are engines of growth, creators of jobs, builders of communities, and drivers of innovation," said Jennifer LaClair, Head of Merchant Solutions at Fiserv. "An enhanced suite of industry-specific solutions allows small business owners across industries to transform challenges into opportunities and streamline processes so they can focus on what matters most – elevating their business."

Working in tandem with upgraded vertical solutions and industry-leading payments capabilities, the enhanced solution set includes:

• New hardware, like Clover Compact and Flex Pocket, that further build on the extensive Clover hardware suite, giving business owners more freedom to take payments and run their business how and where they want.
• Integrated capabilities, like employee management, payroll, customer loyalty programs, and gift cards, that are seamlessly built into vertical software to streamline operations.
• Flexible financial solutions, like cash discounting, cash advance and instant and same-day transfers, that provide small businesses with easy access to capital that facilitates growth.

For more information about Clover’s enhanced vertical solutions and products, please visit http://www.clover.com.

Zucchetti North America is excited to launch a new customer support program, available to hotel clients 24/7, across their entire portfolio of operational solutions. From CRS, to POS, to booking engines, to PMS and RMS, Zucchetti North America offers a one-stop shop for hoteliers looking for a complete tech stack to support their operations; with the launch of the new customer support program, the company is demonstrating its commitment to providing the best user experience possible, enabling clients to maximize the ROI earned from their tech investment.

As part of the new customer support program, Zucchetti North America implemented the following new procedures and processes:

·       Expanded the customer support team to ensure that live telephone and chat support is available to clients worldwide, 24/7.

·       Provided in-depth training to all support team members, enabling each employee to provide customer support for all the Zucchetti North America tech solutions.

·       Implemented an integrated email support program which enables clients to submit a support ticket for any of the solutions and receive a response within 24 hours. Once a ticket is submitted, hotels can also log into the customer portal to find out the status of their ticket request at any time.

·       Customers have access to the vast Zucchetti North America knowledge base through their online customer portal, which offers training videos and information about all the different solutions in the tech stack

·       Decreased the target response time for all support requests submitted through our online chat to a 24-hour turnaround.

“In today’s competitive landscape, hoteliers are not just looking for tools; they’re looking for results and maximizing customer support responsiveness is key to unlocking the full potential of a hotel’s tech investment,” said Alison Cowan, Vice President of Sales at Zucchetti North America. “By ensuring timely support across all support channels, we help our clients optimize their technology to capture more bookings and maximize revenue opportunities. As such, improved customer support directly translates to a higher ROI on our client’s tech spend and empowers them to stand out from the competition online.”

To find out more about Zucchetti North America’s new customer support, please contact Jennifer Nagy at [email protected] or +1.786.420.1160. Alternatively, you can meet Zucchetti North America at The Hospitality Show in San Antonio, TX on October 29 & 30 at Booth 925 on the tradeshow floor to find out more or for a demo of our fully integrated suite of operational solutions.