ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Panera Bread announced that MyPanera members can now order via Alexa on Echo Show devices. Ordering with Alexa provides convenience for MyPanera members and allows them to order their Panera favorites via voice or touch—without having to open the Panera app. With this new feature, MyPanera members can simply ask Alexa to order their favorite Panera items for pick-up or delivery, and the order will be completed.
To start ordering via Alexa, MyPanera members will need to have an Echo Show device and a stored payment method, and for delivery orders, an address in their MyPanera account. From there, they can ask Alexa to order food from Panera, add items to their order, customize items, and check out—all through voice. To make this service possible, Panera worked with Amazon to enable Alexa to learn the Panera menu. The experience honors Unlimited Sip Club same day redemptions*.
“While our guests love the Panera app, we know there are times where it’s just more convenient to be hands-free and order by voice, and we are thrilled to work with Amazon to design and offer another convenient way to order Panera,” said George Hanson, Chief Digital Officer for Panera Bread. “We’re continuing to push the boundaries of what we can do to make our MyPanera members’ lives easier, and we’re just at the beginning of what is possible in the world of conversational commerce.”
“Ordering with Alexa gives customers an easy and natural way to connect with their favorite restaurants at-home,” said Mark Yoshitake, GM and Director of Alexa Skills. “Panera is the first to use our updated Alexa Food Skills API which incorporates state-of the-art techniques in conversational AI to make the ordering process through Alexa more intuitive. Now, customers can reorder their favorite meal, ask to add avocado and bacon to their sandwich, or track their delivery without having to pick up their phone, or open an app.”
For more information or to sign up for MyPanera®, Panera’s free loyalty program or Unlimited Sip Club, guests can visit the Panera website or download the mobile app. Once signed up for MyPanera, guests with an Echo Show device can start ordering by simply saying: “Alexa, order Panera.”
*MyPanera rewards are not redeemable through this Alexa service at this time.
About Panera Bread
Panera Bread opened in 1987 as a community bakery, founded with a secret sourdough starter and a belief that sharing great bread is an expression of warmth and generosity. That vision holds true today with a robust menu of delicious, chef-curated recipes created with a simple principle: The Familiar, Made Fantastic™. At Panera, we serve food that we are proud to serve our own families, made with responsibly raised proteins and freshly prepared with Clean ingredients--food that does not contain the artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, and colors from artificial sources set forth on our No-No list served in U.S. bakery-cafes. From crave-worthy soups, salads and sandwiches to flatbread pizza and sweets, we offer our guests more than great food. Our ethos of generosity drives us to meet our guests where they are through technology and through our shared values. We are stewards of our communities and the planet — with programs like Day-End Dough-Nation® that donates unsold baked goods in the evening to local non-profits, or labeling climate-friendly low carbon Cool Food Meals.
As of February 28, 2023 there were 2,113 bakery-cafes, company and franchise, in 48 states and in Ontario, Canada, operating under the Panera Bread® or Saint Louis Bread Co.® names. Panera Bread is part of Panera Brands, one of the largest fast casual restaurant companies in the U.S., comprised of Panera Bread®, Caribou Coffee® and Einstein Bros.® Bagels. For more information, visit panerabread.com or find us on Twitter (@panerabread), Facebook (facebook.com/panerabread) Instagram (@panerabread) or TikTok (@panerabread).
