FinTech Goes Niche With Slice’s Pizzeria Payment Platform

A payment platform just for pizzerias? Slice, a company that provides technology solutions for independent pizza restaurants, announced on Monday (June 28) the addition of new features to its Slice Register point of sale (POS) system, among which are Slice Payments and Slice Delivery Management, an in-restaurant payment platform and delivery order management solution, respectively, each of which was created specifically to meet the needs of local pizzerias.

As restaurants grow increasingly digital, with more solutions providers emerging each month to meet their evolving needs, restaurant technology (ResTech) is growing more granular. Of course, while it is no great surprise that the needs of a small table-service restaurant catering to an upscale clientele would be different than those of a major, mass-market quick-service restaurant (QSR), the move toward technology — specifically for pizzerias — marks a fairly dramatic escalation in the segmentation of ResTech.

Part of the goal of these features is to level the playing field for smaller pizza restaurants, as major chains are able to leverage multi-million-dollar tech investments to propel them into the future. Take, for instance, Pizza Hut parent company Yum! Brands, which in the past several months has announced the acquisitions of several leading commerce technology companies, including the ~$72 million purchase of kitchen management and delivery technology company Dragontail Systems Limited. Meanwhile, Domino’s was able to leverage its investments in digital ordering technologies and its in-house network of drivers to grow revenues $110.6 million, or 12.7 percent, in the first quarter of 2021.

“These new features enhance our suite of product offerings as we continue to put the tools and technology that Domino’s franchisees receive directly into the hands of independent pizzeria owners,” Slice CEO and Founder Ilir Sela said in a statement. He later added, “With all of our innovations, we’re aiming to solve some of the biggest pain points for shops and make it easier for them to take on more orders and maximize revenue.”

Slice is certainly well on its way to executing these goals. The company works with more than 16,000 independent pizzerias. Plus, following the announcement in March of the company’s POS service and its Slice Rewards loyalty program, the company brought in $40 million in an April funding round.

The company began as primarily a delivery platform, aiming to give local pizzerias a fair shot in the delivery space. As Sela commented, “These independents face a unique set of challenges brought on by Big Pizza competition and predatory delivery apps.”

Third-party restaurant delivery services have already been going niche to gain a following in the crowded space, with services specializing in specific cuisines and types of food. However, the specificity of the company’s new payment technologies stands out among other POS providers, aiming to meet the needs of as many restaurants as possible.

Take, for instance, another ResTech company looking to get into the digital payments space: digital ordering giant Olo. Founder and CEO Noah Glass told Karen Webster in an interview about the company’s “ultimate ambition of touching every transaction” in the restaurant industry. Looking ahead, it remains to be seen whether restaurants will tend to seek out the companies with the broadest capabilities or those tailored to their individual needs.

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