BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toast (NYSE: TOST), the all-in-one technology platform built for restaurants, today announced its Fall Product Release with new mobile features designed to help restaurants unlock new revenue streams, boost their brand presence, and deepen the connection to their guests. Highlights include a Branded Mobile App and SMS Marketing to drive diner engagement on mobile devices.
“In today’s competitive restaurant environment, reaching new guests and enticing them back again and again is easier if you meet them where they are — on their phones,” said Steve Fredette, President and Co-Founder of Toast. “These new features allow restaurants to make direct, personal connections with their guests and are designed to drive traffic and grow brand loyalty. These innovations are some of our most highly requested features. I’m proud we’ve built them in deep partnership with our customers to give restaurants more ways to drive revenue, showcase their brand, and connect with guests.”
Branded Mobile App helps drive repeat orders and puts a restaurant’s brand front and center in guests’ hands
Toast’s new Branded Mobile App will allow restaurant owners and operators to launch their own customizable iOS and Android apps, offering another branded touchpoint for restaurants to engage and retain their guests. As part of the Toast Digital Storefront Suite, restaurants of any size can easily customize their app and integrate with online ordering, POS, and loyalty. The Branded Mobile App is designed to be accessible to restaurants of all sizes, helping them to:
- Own and amplify their brand on their white-labeled app with their logo and choice of fonts, colors, and imagery.
- Increase repeat orders and average check size. Features like previous order suggestions and upsell items help guide guests through their menu toward specific dishes and drinks.
- Connect with guests wherever they are with push notifications and create time-sensitive promos to capture a guest's attention and bring them in.
- Establish a direct relationship with their guests, empower restaurants to bring guests back, and expand their fanbase via an easy integration with Toast’s Marketing and Loyalty products.
Guests who order through the branded app are four times more likely to be repeat customers than those who order through a restaurant’s website1. Slim and Husky’s, a fast-casual, gourmet pizza restaurant with 10 locations throughout Tennessee and Georgia, built their brand on the food as well as the active role that they take in their community through employment opportunities, hosting events, and speaking engagements at local schools, non-profits, and small businesses. They have been using the Branded Mobile App as a valuable tool to convey their brand and deepen their connection to their guests.
“At Slim & Husky’s, our brand is deeply rooted in the communities we serve, as we strive to intertwine all cultures in our stores. With 10 thriving locations, our mission is to expand across the Southeast while strengthening our brand identity,” said Courtney Gray, Director of Customer Experience at Slim & Husky’s. “We were thrilled when Toast created a Branded Mobile App integrated with their platform as the app plays a key role in our growth. The app is customized to reflect our brand and makes it incredibly easy for guests to order and reorder on the move, reducing the need for multiple clicks online. This convenience keeps our brand at their fingertips, strengthening brand accessibility, builds a loyal customer base, and positions us as a professional, brand-savvy, and dependable business.”
SMS Marketing makes it easy to connect with guests in real time and keep them coming back
A Toast survey reports that 57% of guests are interested in hearing from their favorite restaurants via text. SMS Marketing (Short Message Service, commonly known as text) leverages AI and automations to enable restaurants to capitalize on this interest2. With SMS Marketing, restaurants can send subscribers marketing campaigns, promotional offers, and messages in real-time to help increase sales and keep guests coming back. Restaurants can save time with automated campaigns or can create custom, one-time messages with the help of an AI writing assistant that suggests text. SMS Marketing is included in Toast’s Marketing Suite along with email marketing, loyalty, and gift cards. Other key benefits include:
- Tools to grow subscriber lists, including a dashboard of easy-to-use templates like customer QR code print-outs, email and social media templates, a text-to-join prompt, and more. Toast’s integrated platform allows customers to easily prompt guests to sign up for SMS Marketing through their online ordering checkout, loyalty sign-up page, and digital receipts.
- Targeted, actionable, and time-sensitive messages can be shared with guests in seconds. Customers can promote exclusive offers to help increase same-day visits, or keep guests in the loop with live updates, upcoming events, and new seasonal specials.
- Real-time campaign reporting allows operators to analyze subscriber list growth, campaign details, message open rates, and more.
“I love being able to communicate the same day with people — If it’s a slow day, I’ll send a promo like ‘$5 off your bill’ or ‘free appetizer if you show this message.’ I know it is working because I see people come in and redeem these offers the same day," said Jason Wolbransky, a General Manager of Dog & Bull Taphouse and Kitchen, a single-location bar and restaurant in Croydon, PA. "The automated campaigns are great, too—I turn them on and they run in the background. On average we’ve been able to generate $34 in sales per automated text sent, which can add up quickly as I grow my subscriber list3."
For more information on the Branded Mobile App and SMS Marketing, as well as other new features and products from Toast, visit the Fall Product Release page.
About Toast
Toast [NYSE: TOST] is a cloud-based, all-in-one digital technology platform purpose-built for the entire restaurant community. Toast provides a comprehensive platform of software as a service (SaaS) products and financial technology solutions that give restaurants everything they need to run their business across point of sale, payments, operations, digital ordering and delivery, marketing and loyalty, and team management. We serve as the restaurant operating system, connecting front of house and back of house operations across service models including dine-in, takeout, delivery, catering, and retail. Toast helps restaurants streamline operations, increase revenue, and deliver amazing guest experiences. For more information, visit www.toasttab.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the context of the statement and generally arise when Toast or its management is discussing its beliefs, estimates or expectations. Such statements generally include the words “believes,” “plans,” “intends,” “targets,” “may,” “could,” “should,” “will,” “expects,” “estimates,” “suggests,” “anticipates,” “outlook,” “continues,” or similar expressions. These statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance, but represent the beliefs of Toast and its management at the time the statements were made regarding future events which are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside Toast’s control. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding Toast’s business plans and strategy, the launch of new products and features, including their intended benefits and functionalities, and the benefits of such launch on Toast’s business and operations.
The forward-looking statements contained in this release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Toast’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations'' in Toast’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, Toast’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024, and Toast’s subsequent SEC filings. Toast can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations or strategies as reflected in or suggested by those forward-looking statements will be attained or achieved. The forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to Toast as of the date hereof, and Toast disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Toast’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
TOST-CORP
1 Based on Toast internal data from 3/18/24 - 9/2/24 of guest ordering activity from 336 restaurant locations using the branded mobile app comparing retention rate across online ordering. Individual results will vary.
2 Sourced from a blind survey given in February, 2024 to 1,571 US-based restaurant guests who had dined in, ordered takeout, or ordered delivery from any restaurant in the prior 3 months. 57% of guests surveyed said they were extremely to somewhat interested in receiving formal communications from their favorite restaurants via text. Survey respondents may have received incentives for participation.
3 Based on the average next order spend of recipients of Dog & Bull's automated SMS Marketing messages within 14 days following receipt OF SMS, from August 19, 2024 - September 6, 2024.