Digital Ordering news and trends

Custom 3D Cookie Cake Builder Takes Cue From Nike
Retail // September 28, 2024

As consumers expect interactive, customized eCommerce experiences, Great American Cookies is learning from sneaker brands and auto companies how to create an immersive, engaging ordering journey. The sweet treats brand recently launched its 3D Cookie Cake Builder for custom orders. In an interview with PYMNTS,...

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...

Interviews & Exclusives
These 3 Connected Consumer Segments Will Define Commerce’s Next Decade

March 13, 2025
Once relegated to simple card-present transactions, digital payments today are deeply embedded into and across a web of connected devices, ultimately driving more personalized experiences and frictionless commerce. The PYMNTS Intelligence report “How People Pay: Consumer Preference for Connected Technology” found that 76% of now own four or more connected devices, a testament to the […]

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...

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...

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...