Today in Food Commerce: White Castle Taps Back-of-House Automation; Sonic Leverages Order-Tracking Technology

Today in food commerce, Jamie Richardson, vice president of marketing and public relations at White Castle, discusses with PYMNTS the importance of back-of-house automation. Plus, Kim Lewis, vice president of integrated marketing communications for QSR chain Sonic, discusses the importance of customer-centric digital tools, and eGrocer Weee raises hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital.

White Castle Turns to Robotics to Meet Rising Order Demand

“Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should do something, and so I think there’s a temptation to overthink [automation] and over-invest without understanding clearly what the purpose is,” Richardson told PYMNTS in an interview.

Sonic Leans on Mobile and Order-Tracking Features to Keep Customers Coming Back

In the February edition of the Order To Eat Tracker®, PYMNTS explores the latest news and trends in the order to eat space, including how consumers’ digital expectations are driving restaurants to enhance their payment and ordering experiences.

Weee Raises $425M in Series E Round as Investors Look for eGrocery Differentiation

Money continues to pour in for online grocery, with providers that differentiate meaningfully from competitors in the crowded space especially standing out. Online grocer Weee, which specializes in delivery of groceries from a range of ethnicities, has raised $425 million in its Series E funding round, for instance.

Independent QSRs Risk Falling Behind in Restaurant Industry’s Digital Shift

For the Restaurant Friction Index (RFI), created collaboration with Paytronix, PYMNTS researchers surveyed more than 500 managers of full-service restaurants (FSRs) and quick-service restaurants (QSRs) across the United States about their existing ordering, payment and fulfillment features and about their plans for the future, assigning each an RFI score. The study found that independent QSRs lag independent FSRs when it comes to how innovation-ready they are.