Restaurant chains have been playing the value game for months. Now restaurant tech is getting into the act.
Lunchbox, the tech provider, on Monday announced plans to offer order aggregation to any operator that buys one of its suite of products, including mobile app and web ordering, catering, marketing, guest engagement and an open API platform, which enables different software applications to communicate with one another.
Order aggregation automatically routes orders from third-party platforms, such as catering companies like EzCater or delivery providers such as DoorDash and Uber Eats, directly to a restaurant’s point-of-sale system. Order aggregation is typically a standalone product. Lunchbox will offer this service for free along with any of its other products.
To the tech provider, the reasoning is simple. “This really is a difficult time for restaurants,” CEO James Walker said in an interview with Restaurant Business. “It is the most difficult point in history that I’ve experienced in my entire career. This is our way of helping a struggling industry.”
At the same time, of course, Lunchbox clearly hopes to boost sales in its product offerings. The company recently hired longtime restaurant industry executive Walker to be its CEO in the hope of expanding the number of companies with which it works. The move also means Lunchbox will compete more directly with the online ordering company Olo.
“I hope that’s the case,” Walker said. “I hope that’s the case not just for Lunchbox, but for the industry, because our other products are best-in-class.”
Walker argues that order aggregation is not a want in the restaurant industry right now but a need. Orders from third-party delivery and catering companies have become vital for operators of all types these days. Nearly three-quarters of restaurant visits are for consumption outside of the restaurant. Nine percent of orders are for delivery, with many of those orders taking place at fast-food and casual-dining chains that historically never offered the product.
Aggregation simplifies the system for restaurant companies, ensuring these orders go directly to the point-of-sale system. “Off-premises business has become part and parcel to the industry,” Walker said. “You need to do it. It’s not a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. Aggregation is the technology that allows restaurants to do that efficiently.”
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