In a competitive industry where diners have endless options, a new wave of emerging restaurant brands is carving out space by doing things a little differently, whether it’s entering new territory with a fully digitized dining experience or simply adding some unique twists on tried and true business models. We took a look around the…
This press release was originally published via Business Wire. June 12, 2024 | SAN FRANCISCO — CardFree, the all-in-one platform empowering merchants to create customized order, pay, and loyalty solutions, has announced the launch of a new Smart AI Upsell feature incorporated into the first fully integrated (loyalty, payment and offers) online ordering platform. The new…
First impressions matter, especially in the world of food! You might be serving up the tastiest dishes in town, but if your branding is bland, people will walk right past you. Good branding is what keeps customers coming back for seconds. It’s not enough to slap on a slick logo or a catchy tagline…
Today, the digital transformation of dining has changed how we order food, as well as the expectations consumers have of service and efficiency. Restaurants now face the task of implementing online ordering systems as an extension of their services and as a core component of their operational strategy. Whether you have an established mobile…
John Oliver’s recent segment on ‘Last Week Tonight’ sheds some light on the financial drain that third-party delivery apps can cause for restaurant businesses, siphoning profits and weakening customer relationships in the process. If you’re feeling the pinch from these third-party delivery apps, it might be time to rethink your strategy and look at…
Today’s Restaurant Industry Landscape After a difficult few years facing pandemic-related issues with restaurant labor costs, supply chains, inflation, and changing customer habits, many large restaurant chains, especially QSRs, have bounced back successfully. However, smaller independent restaurants in the full service sector are still facing a tough path forward. While the National Restaurant Association…
The Delivery Dilemma The rise of on-demand delivery apps like DoorDash and UberEats has undeniably transformed the restaurant landscape. Convenience at our fingertips, a few taps on a smartphone, and a meal arrives at our doorstep—sounds like the perfect setup. Unfortunately this setup usually isn’t as convenient for restaurant operators as it is for…
The modern 2-way speaker drive-thru operation is said to have been invented by In-N-Out Burger in the late 1940s, later refined and spread across the country in the 60s and 70s by fast food giants like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Jack In The Box. Thanks to technology and changing customer demands, drive-thrus have steadily become…
2023 was another year of growth at CardFree thanks to our amazing restaurant, hospitality, and retail partners along with our awesome team for making everything happen. As the world of restaurant tech continues to evolve, we’ve seen greater adoption of online ordering and payments from both operators and their customers, as you can see…
Introducing CardFree Loyalty 2.0 We built the initial CardFree Loyalty platform in 2013 with basic functionality, as our primary focus was creating the best Ordering and Payment platforms possible. A few years ago, we started hearing complaints from our restaurant partners about legacy loyalty platforms in regard to lack of support, high costs, poor UX, and…