How a fast casual restaurant chain uses location to cut order times and turn guests into raving fans
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- Bluedot location data platform
- HyprLoco mobile solution
- McAlister’s Deli mobile app
Tech Stack
- Location-aware technology
- Geofencing
- Mobile app development
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Customer Satisfaction
- Productivity Improvements
Applicable Industries
- Food & Beverage
- Retail
Applicable Functions
- Sales & Marketing
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
- Geofencing
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
McAlister’s Deli is a fast casual restaurant chain founded in 1989 in Texas. The brand is known for its genuine hospitality, sandwiches, spuds, soups, salads, desserts and McAlister’s Famous Sweet Tea™. With numerous industry accolades, the McAlister’s brand has more than 400 restaurants in 28 states where they’re serving smiles with every meal. They believe food is meant to be shared– great food in great company. McAlister’s brand is one of seven international brands owned by FOCUS Brands.
The Challenge
McAlister’s Deli, a fast casual restaurant chain with over 400 restaurants in 28 states, was looking to streamline its customer experience, improve staff efficiency, and wow guests, especially first-timers. They wanted to prioritize orders for freshly prepared food. To achieve these objectives, they needed to understand the physical behavior of their guests and optimize their service based on those behaviors.
The Solution
McAlister’s Deli was able to shave precious minutes off its ordering process by using a groundbreaking solution developed by location data platform Bluedot and mobile solution provider HyprLoco. The joint solution notifies McAlister’s Deli servers when a customer is on their way to pick up a meal and pulls up the customer’s order on the QSR system when they are on-site, in line or at the drive-thru window. This enables the staff to prioritize orders and delight customers with freshly prepared food. At the center of McAlister’s streamlined customer experience is its location-aware mobile app. Customers use the app’s call-ahead or mobile ordering feature to place their order. Individual McAlister’s restaurants then set virtual geofences that trigger notifications (for servers) when the customer’s device enters the designated area, such as the parking lot entrance or the drive-thru lane. Achieving this precision without any hardware means it’s easy to scale and access broader trends.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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