One of Shipday’s foundational motivations is to solve the core problems of small businesses that depend on delivering products to their customers quickly and efficiently.

This approach is particularly advantageous for the pizza industry, where delivery service is key to reaching potential customers and maintaining a loyal customer base.

Recently, Shipday’s CEO, Moin Islam, sat down on the Digital Hospitality Roadshow with one of these business owners, Avery Ward, a pizzeria owner in Groveport, Ohio. 

For pizzerias, technology can provide solutions and create profit

Avery is acutely aware of the details needed to run and manage a successful pizza restaurant and delivery team effectively. 

His Little Italy Ristorante has successfully implemented several technologies to increase its profit margins and improve customer service and overall customer experience. His focus has been to streamline his business with technology, build an online presence, and offer amazing pizzas, and with that, he’s cultivated a base of loyal customers.

In the interview, Avery details how using technology and digital marketing strategies distinguishes his restaurant from its competitors and helps to streamline his business, bringing increased revenue and customer satisfaction over the long term. These efforts have also helped to manage operating costs and marketing costs, essential aspects of maintaining a successful pizzeria.

Here are three takeaways from that interview on how these technologies have been instrumental in transforming Avery’s restaurant business:

#1 Switching to Toast: A Game-Changing Software

When Avery’s previous point-of-sales system did not perform well, He was forced to consider other options despite his reluctance. After meeting with a Toast representative, he switched to Toast integration in 2016 and hasn’t looked back.

“Everything centers around Toast,” says Avery. “It truly does. It's the hub of our operations, and there are so many different software that we use that are key to what we do, but it all flows through Toast.” 

Toast’s POS is a great example of a technology that has revolutionized the restaurant industry. Allowing restaurant owners to have a centralized solution for their sales, marketing, and overall restaurant operations, Toast makes the day-to-day management of a restaurant easier, faster, and more efficient.

By taking advantage of Toast, Avery’s Little Italy performs better, and management has become easier. Moreover, it provides insights into pizza sales, helping to refine pizza marketing ideas and identify target customers more accurately.

#2 Social Media Wins: The Groveport Greats Video Series 

Another challenge for Avery was social media.

As a business owner, he knew it was important to engage people on different social media platforms, but he wasn’t sure how to do it in a way that could benefit his restaurant.

A serendipitous stumble upon an idea to highlight local businesses and business owners led to a now-popular video series on Instagram that not only enhances the online presence of his business but also fosters a loyal customer base through engaging content.

Avery says, “The initial concept that I had was, how can I get people engaged on our social media? Because that's the goal. And then that evolved into, like, I want to relate with other businesses while we do this, so how can we get people into our local businesses?”

What Avery ended up doing was a video series called Groveport Greats. 

He picked four great Groveport businesses to start the series and filmed a little video skit that day at their location to highlight them and their business. They made it humorous for their viewers, and people in the community really connected with it.

For restaurant owners, social media can often seem difficult, but the lesson here is just to start. Your initial vision might evolve into something better and even into something great. 

#3 Enhancing Hospitality with Shipday 

Avery sees technology unlocking what he calls hidden unknowns for his restaurant business. What does he mean by this? Initially, when looking for dispatch software, he was just searching for a solution that would help him and his drivers be more efficient.

But one of the great unforeseen features of Shipday for Avery was how it opened up more communication channels between his business, his drivers, and his customers.

“Customers now know where the order is and when the driver is going to get there,” says Avery, “It's also more visibility from an owner level. I have more visibility to see where my drivers are at, if my orders are on time, and if they're late. Are things happening logistically on time? That was never a main need for me, but it came about after seeing the software in use where it's like, oh, wow, this is huge.”

Shipday also integrates with Toast and other software, providing the benefits of seamless connection between platforms. This is crucial for enhancing the customer experience, particularly in a fast-paced delivery service context.

You can see the full video here.

Technology for the delivery win

If you own a pizza business like Avery, you know how important it is to get food to customers fast and without complication. Shipday helps pizza owners seamlessly manage their delivery drivers, communicate with their customers, plan routes, and so much more.

If you’re still depending on outdated and time-consuming modes of managing your delivery operations, you need to give Shipday a try. Several Independent pizzerias are leveraging Shipday to reduce operating costs and enhance the efficiency of their delivery services, further solidifying their position in a competitive industry.

Sign up for Shipday for free today, and see how it can help your business achieve new levels of pizza delivery success! 

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