Today in Restaurant and Grocery Tech: Burger King Rolls Out Loyalty; VCs Back Cashierless Checkout

Today in restaurant and grocery tech news, Burger King launches its loyalty rewards nationwide, and Russian eGrocery veterans start a 15-minute grocery delivery service in New York City. Plus, Bhavuk Kaul, CEO of AP automation solution Plate IQ, makes the case that digitizing payments is vital to restaurants’ futures.

NEW DATA: Digital Features Can Help Grocers Win Over 43 Percent of Shoppers

In the U.S., 17% of consumers say they are buying groceries online more often now than they did before the pandemic began in March 2020, even as they show signs of returning to stores as they once did. Which services will go the furthest in meeting digital-first shoppers’ rapidly evolving demands?

Plate IQ Automates Restaurants’ Back-of-House Operations to Save Time, Cut Costs

As the digital shift sweeps across industries, restaurants’ back-of-house operations have for the most part been left behind. Bhavuk Kaul, CEO of AP automation solution Plate IQ, speaks with PYMNTS about how increased transparency can bring procurement into the 2020s.

Cashierless Checkout Provider Zippin Lands $30M

Zippin announced Thursday (Sept. 2) it has raised $30 million in Series B funding, bringing its overall total to more than $45 million. The latest fundraising round includes contributions from OurCrowd, Maven Ventures, Evolv Ventures and SAP and will help multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) tech company Zippin to expand its checkout-free platform to thousands of stores by 2025.

Burger King to Roll Out Rewards Nationwide as Brands Compete with Aggregators for Customer Loyalty

Seven months after launching the initial pilot, loyalty latecomer Burger King announced Thursday (Sept. 2) that it is rolling out its rewards program nationwide. Before the end of the month, consumers will be able to earn points (“crowns”) through the brand’s Royal Perks program at two-thirds of the chain’s United States locations.

Grocery Roundup: E-Grocery Innovations Meet Demand for Frictionless Convenience

Another ultra-fast grocery delivery service comes to NYC, Big Y launches scan-and-go checkout, and Southeastern Grocers opens a new liquor store concept.

SJW CEO: Delivery Boom Paves the Way for Robotic Restaurants

Robotic solutions take on the culinary processes one by one. Nipun Sharma, CEO at SJW Robotics, a company working on creating fully automated restaurants, tells PYMNTS this piecemeal approach will be too limited to hack it in the restaurant industry’s digital future.