Olo Launches Olo Pay Amid Competition for Frictionless Ordering

Olo is making major moves toward owning the digital restaurant transaction from start to finish.

The New York City-based B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) restaurant technology company announced the launch of its Olo Pay payment solution Wednesday (Feb. 23). The company timed the announcement with the release of its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 earnings results.

“Just as restaurants have fragmented point-of-sale systems, they also have fragmented payment processors, and these payment processors are horizontal solutions that are not purpose built for restaurants, nor built for digital transactions,” Olo CEO Noah Glass told analysts on a call. “Olo Pay’s fully integrated, vertical payment solution goes beyond core credit card processing functionality and will benefit both the operator and the consumer.”

He added that features include Apple Pay and Google Pay acceptance, fraud prevention tools and card-on-file payments, among others. Glass stated that the product will lead to “four times more revenue per order” for the company, which intends to add new frictionless checkout tools into the platform later in the year.

Additionally, the company announced that Olo signed a deal Sunday (Feb. 20) to acquire Omnivore, a restaurant technology company that connects restaurants’ point-of-sale (POS) systems to operational management tools to boost efficiency. The technology will boost restaurants’ data analysis ability, among other features.

“Ultimately, Olo plus Omnivore will allow our restaurant brands to immediately gain access to new on-premise capabilities as well as an expanded technology partner network outside of core ordering, broadening Olo’s platform capabilities,” Glass said.

As of Wednesday morning, Olo is now in competition with DoorDash for restaurant purchases made through Google’s ordering tools, which allow consumers to complete the transaction through restaurants’ Google Business Profiles after the food delivery company announced that it is integrating DoorDash Storefront with Order with Google.

Read more: DoorDash Integrates With Google to Offer Frictionless Ordering, Payment

On the call, Glass noted that integrations such as Olo’s Google partnership “provid[e] brands the ability to grow their direct digital business … while owning and maintaining direct consumer relationships.”

According to data from PYMNTS’ new Restaurant Friction Index, created collaboration with Paytronix, 41% of restaurant sales were being generated through digital channels as of September. Additionally, the survey, which featured the results of more than 500 managers of full-service restaurants (FSRs) and quick-service restaurants (QSRs), revealed that 74% of restaurants now offer the ability to pay online and that 77% offer the ability to order online.

See more: How Eateries Can Tap Order Throttling Tools as Delivery Demand Grows

Moreover, the study also drew from a survey of a census-balanced panel of more than 2,100 U.S. adults and showed that four in 10 consumers would be more inclined to shop with restaurants that offered online ordering and payment and that 31% would be similarly motivated by the ability to order via an app.

Even with consumer mobility higher than it was in the fourth quarter of 2020, Olo’s results suggest the continued growth of digital ordering. Not only did total revenue increase 31% year over year, but average revenue per unit grew 7%.