software/technology

— By John Moezzi — What to expect in 2023 digital signage for retail and restaurants.   Another year has passed — since the pandemic started — and we continue to see an uptick in consumers in stores and restaurants. However, even for decades before the pandemic, there were debates between online and brick-and-mortar, where some think one abolishes the other, while others think they play well together. Perhaps, it’s important to know what they can do for each other. Let’s explore the trends for 2023 and how online and …

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San Carlos, Calif. — Presto Automation Inc., one of the largest drive-thru automation technology providers in the hospitality industry, has promoted Dan Mosher to president and Xavier Casanova to chief operating officer, effective immediately. “Dan and Xavier have been key leaders at Presto and were instrumental in successfully developing and implementing Presto Voice, the industry’s most advanced drive-thru AI voice ordering platform,” says Presto’s chairman and interim CEO, Krishna Gupta. “I am delighted to partner with these two and the rest of our exceptional management team as we continue to …

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Jersey City, N.J. — Imperial Dade, a leading distributor of foodservice packaging and janitorial supplies, has hired Devashish Saxena as its first chief digital officer. He will be focused on identifying how the organization can use the latest digital technologies to create a world-class omnichannel customer experience powered by data science. For over 20 years, Devashish Saxena has built digital organizations and guided them in making data-driven decisions to deliver business impact. Most recently Devashish led digital transformation as vice president, chief digital officer at PPG, a Pittsburgh-based coatings manufacturer. …

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San Carlos, Calif. — Presto Automation Inc., the largest drive-thru automation technology provider in the hospitality industry, has formed a collaboration with OpenAI, an AI research and deployment company, to drive greater innovation around its drive-thru AI voice assistant. OpenAI’s ChatGPT API will be used to expand the feature set of the Presto’s drive-thru AI voice assistant (Presto Voice™), resulting in interactions that are more natural and human-like. Presto Voice uses advanced AI techniques including large language models (LLM) and generative AI to understand natural human language and offer logical …

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— By Zayn King-Dollie —   Utilizing mobile ordering and building design to capitalize on takeout trends.     Last year, The National Restaurant Association estimated that 2022 would have record-breaking sales revenue of $898 billion, a 12.4% increase from 2021 and 3.9% above pre-pandemic sales. The predictions signaled an optimistic future, but instead, many businesses now are facing additional hardships brought on by inflation. Even with higher sales, the industry profit margins are 11.5% lower than in 2019. A third of all restaurant operators expect sales revenue outcomes to …

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Aurora, Ill. — Palmer Digital Group, a full-service supplier and installer of custom indoor and outdoor digital kiosks, display enclosures and drive-thru digital menu boards, has been selected by The Patio, a high-end QSR specializing in barbeque, sandwiches and salads, to digitize interior and exterior menu board systems at its six Chicago-area locations. PDG’s menu board solutions will completely modernize the in-store and drive-thru customer experience while accelerating the appearance of price adjustments, new menu additions, limited time offers and more across storewide menu board systems. PDG’s solution for The …

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— By Jim Metevier —   Striking the right balance between dine-in and digital investments.   In a world where convenience is king, the quick-service restaurant industry is experiencing an unprecedented push toward digitization, and understandably so. Throughout 2020 and 2021, while in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, brands needed to pivot to survive. Traditional guest-facing techniques fell to the wayside, as consumers called for contactless pickup and delivery — relying mostly on apps and websites to place orders, and demanding as little person-to-person contact as possible. Amazingly, for …

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Naples, Fla. — LINGA rOS, the all-in-one cloud-based restaurant operating system provider, has appointed Daymion Phelps as its new vice president of sales. She joins LINGA from Heartland Retail. Phelps brings more than 20 years of retail automation solution sales and consulting experience to LINGA with a deep background in the point-of-sale, SaaS and payment solutions industries. Phelps was most recently the director of sales for Heartland Retail, where she focused on providing point-of-sale solutions to growing small business, mid-market and enterprise retailers. Phelps’ professional software sales career began with …

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— Interview with Eduardo Luz —   Panera puts on a show with several new design formats catering to the needs of an increasingly digital and off-premise guest.   If variety is the spice of life, the many evolving iterations of Panera these days is keeping its real estate and construction game pretty hot. Currently boasting more than 2,100 bakery-cafes (in 48 states and Ontario, Canada), Panera operates under the Panera Bread® or Saint Louis Bread Co.® names; roughly half of these cafes are company-owned. Never a brand to sit …

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Houston — HungerRush, a leading cloud software provider for the restaurant industry, has expanded its leadership team with the addition of a new chief financial officer (CFO), chief operating officer (COO), vice president of finance and vice president of independent operators (I/O) sales. The growing finance team welcomes two new team members. David Tabachnick joins the team as CFO and Patrick Hughes will assume the role of vice president of finance. Tabachnick joins HungerRush from Acoustic where he most recently served as CAO. He brings more than 20 years of …

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