Digital Ordering news and trends

Starbucks Looks to Its Roots for a Brand Refresh
Retail // September 13, 2024

In recent months, Starbucks has grappled with operational and financial challenges, compounding its struggle to maintain market dominance. The company’s difficulties, from a mobile outage to shifting consumer spending habits, underscore the complexities facing the iconic coffee chain as it manages changing market dynamics. Starbucks’...

McDonald’s To Experiment With ‘Digital Ordering Stations’
Unattended Retail // September 11, 2024

McDonald’s is reportedly launching a series of digital ordering stations that provide cashierless checkout options. These stations — rolling out at a handful of the fast-food giant’s restaurants — will be able to take cash and provide change, letting customers skip the register, Bloomberg reported...

DoorDash Sees Digital Orders Surge Despite Industry Headwinds
Earnings // August 02, 2024

As consumers look to cut costs amid ongoing financial pressures, DoorDash is seeing that digital ordering is largely protected from the traffic declines experienced across other channels in the restaurant industry. The San Francisco-based restaurant aggregator shared Thursday (Aug. 1) in its second-quarter 2024 earnings...

Starbucks Ex-CEO Urges Leaders to Return to Stores
Restaurant innovation // May 06, 2024

Starbucks’ former CEO said the chain’s leaders need to spend more time at its stores. Howard Schultz made the argument on LinkedIn Sunday (May 5), days after the company reported its steepest drop in U.S. customer traffic in 14 years. To combat that problem, Schultz said, Starbucks’ leadership needs to focus...

Interviews & Exclusives
2023 Was the Year of Restaurant Loyalty Relaunches

December 14, 2023
As ongoing financial challenges have continued to constrain consumers’ budgets throughout the year, restaurants have taken the opportunity to rethink the financial incentives they offer, relaunching their rewards programs with new strategies and user experiences. Take, for instance, quick-service restaurant (QSR) giant Subway, which turned to a tiered rewards model. In September, the brand announced […]

Without Better Tech, Restaurants Could Lose Digital-Savvy Diners, Says Curbit CEO

November 27, 2023
As restaurants become increasingly digital, the industry is facing the same challenges that some of the world’s largest businesses faced when they first became reliant on technology. One key challenge...

Quick Service Restaurants Double-Down on Technology to Gain Customers

November 01, 2023
The food service sector is transforming rapidly, and surviving in such a changing environment requires agile retail strategies.  In the last two years, due to high inflation, restaurants have been...

DoorDash’s Grocery Business Fuels Growth to Record-High 532 Million Orders

August 02, 2023
DoorDash is breaking order volume records, as its rapidly expanding grocery business creates more sales. The food delivery giant, which operates in more than 25 countries, shared in its second-quarter...

Quick Reads
McDonald’s To Experiment With ‘Digital Ordering Stations’

September 11, 2024
McDonald’s is reportedly launching a series of digital ordering stations that provide cashierless checkout options. These stations — rolling out at a handful of the fast-food giant’s restaurants — will be able to take cash and provide change, letting customers skip the register, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (Sept. 11), citing unnamed sources. McDonald’s already uses kiosks […]

Starbucks Ex-CEO Urges Leaders to Return to Stores

May 06, 2024
Starbucks’ former CEO said the chain’s leaders need to spend more time at its stores. Howard Schultz made the argument on LinkedIn Sunday (May 5), days after the company reported its steepest drop in U.S. customer...

Orders.co Debuts AI-Powered Restaurant Ordering Platform

October 23, 2023
Orders.co has unveiled artificial intelligence (AI)-powered online ordering and delivery tools for restaurants. “Designed with the needs of independent restaurants, growing chains and digital brand operators at the forefront, the...

Vistry Unveils AI Customer Assistant Chatbot for Food Commerce

October 04, 2023
San Diego-based startup Vistry has introduced its conversational artificial intelligence (AI) platform for food commerce, featuring an AI customer assistant chatbot called LumoChat. The chatbot aims to assist customers in...