Los Angeles — Cartwheel, an AI-powered delivery platform for restaurants, has teamed up with Hungry Howie’s Pizza to modernize delivery operations. The top 10 U.S. pizza chain is adopting Cartwheel’s Hybrid Delivery technology, following a successful pilot, that will implement a phased rollout across its nearly 500-location system, with all locations targeted to be live by second quarter 2027.
Cartwheel’s Hybrid Delivery gives franchisees a single view of in-house and third-party delivery, with fulfillment powered by DoorDash Drive. Hybrid Delivery prioritizes in-house fleets based on configurable factors such as proximity to the store, order value and driver availability, then automatically routes to third-party drivers when demand peaks. Operators can see every driver in real time from one place, while automated rules handle the manual work required to coordinate delivery capacity.
“We continue to see real value in maintaining a direct relationship with our guests and investing in our in-house delivery capabilities,” says Moe Shrikian, executive vice president and general counsel at Hungry Howie’s. “Third-party delivery provides important additional reach and flexibility, and Cartwheel helps us bring these approaches together while maintaining a consistent guest experience as we modernize our delivery operations.”
Hungry Howie’s adds to Cartwheel’s footprint among enterprise pizza brands running complex, multi-fleet delivery operations. As part of the Toast Partner Ecosystem, Cartwheel connects directly into the Toast restaurant technology platform, giving operators the experience of a connected, unified system.
“As technology advances at an unprecedented pace, enterprise pizza brands are accelerating their move from legacy systems to modern, integrated technology stacks built around best-of-breed partners,” says Alex Vasilkin, co-founder and CEO of Cartwheel. “Cartwheel simplifies the complexity of multi-fleet delivery with AI-powered orchestration today, and it provides the delivery infrastructure for what comes next, including autonomous delivery and other emerging fulfillment models.”
Currently, Hungry Howie’s is approaching 500 stores in 19 states.
Cartwheel is an AI-powered delivery platform for restaurants and beyond. Established in 2012 as a Los Angeles-based delivery restaurant, the company rapidly shifted into a leading delivery outsourcing business. When the founders discovered the delivery management software they needed didn’t exist, they decided to build it themselves. Cartwheel’s delivery management platform is trusted by Jason’s Deli, Portillo’s, Potbelly, P.F. Chang’s, WOWorks, Lou Malnati’s, Giordano’s and more. For more information, visit www.trycartwheel.com.
SOURCE: Cartwheel