American food delivery firm GrubHub has unveiled a new technology for restaurants to simplify customer pickup orders.
Named Ultimate, the technology helps users to place pickup orders through the Grubhub app and provides restaurants with software and hardware to manage the orders.
The four components that comprise the Ultimate solution are customer displays to show real-time order estimates throughout all channels, a lightweight point of sale (POS) with direct integration to the Grubhub web and mobile app, a kitchen display system (KDS) and in-store self-ordering kiosks for users to place orders.
Grubhub founder and CEO Matt Maloney said: “Diners have come to expect ordering ahead for pickup to breeze through busy rush hour crowds and grab their morning coffee or lunch, but currently they can only enjoy this convenience at large QSRs.
“Ultimate now gives restaurants of any size this ability to please diners with an easy, digital pickup experience.
The Ultimate solution speeds up the adoption of digital pickup and improves capacity management for restaurants.
The technology also provides estimated time of arrivals (ETAs), helping customers and delivery drivers to accurately time their arrival and avoid unnecessary waiting. It also has food hall and stadium applications.
Ultimate’s pilot study has been rolled out in more than 100 restaurants in New York City and Chicago in addition to the campus of Ohio State University.
Ohio State University dining services senior director Zia Ahmed said: “Students enjoy the convenience of self-ordering opportunities, and we’ve seen demand for our food service operations increase since installation across our campus.
“It increased the efficiency of our operation while providing a service that is highly desired by our students.”
Recently, Grubhub has been reportedly exploring strategic options, including a possible sale.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the company had hired financial advisers to explore the options that may include a potential sale or even an acquisition.
