Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Is Pizza Hut America’s New Fast Food Company?




Back in the day, I was in Hong Kong at the opening of a new full service Pizza Hut (1990).  During the opening party, I will never forget what an invited guest from India said.  While asking about her experience she told me she was disappointed. I asked why?  

She went on to tell me she thought that Pizza Put was American Fast Food.  That it took nearly 12 minutes to get the pizza she had ordered to her table.  Then she asked what kind of restaurant is Pizza Hut.  Clearly in those days it was not fast food, that might be about to change. 

Last week Pizza Hut, Visa, and Accenture announced they are developing a proof-of-concept connected car to test mobile and online purchases on the go.  The goal is to speed up service. 

“By 2020 it is estimated that more than 250 million vehicles worldwide will include some form of embedded connectivity,” said Bill Gajda, senior vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships, Visa Inc. “As the number of connected cars on the road increases, so does our ability to bring secure online commerce to consumers everywhere. We initially focused on a specific use case – ordering a meal on your way home – but we envision a world where consumers can seamlessly make many of their everyday purchases from the car.” 

The connected car concept combines payment security, cellular and wireless technologies to test connected car consumer payment experiences. While the initial focus is on ordering food at a quick-service restaurant, the technology could also be applied to other consumer purchases including gasoline, transit and parking and drive-thru retail opportunities.  The three partners expect to test the connected car commerce experience in Northern California, over a three-month period, starting this spring. 

As part of the connected car trial, Pizza Hut will provide in-car access to menus, delivery and pick-up options as well as test in-restaurant beacon technology to notify team members when the customer’s car has arrived.
“We’re committed to offering speed and convenience to our customers when ordering online and this new connected car technology is the latest way for us to do that,” said Baron Concors, chief digital officer, Pizza Hut. “We have the largest suite of mobile apps and are proud to be the exclusive pizza company to offer Visa Checkout, so with our history of innovation, it only made sense for us to be the first to test the beacon technology in cars.” 

We applaud Pizza Hut, Visa, and Accenture for thinking about the customer valued attributes and working on solutions. 

For international corporate presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us  Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaking will leave success clues for all. www.FoodserviceSolutions.us


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