Today in Restaurant and Grocery Tech: Outback Parent Company Takes a Hit; Black Rifle Coffee Company to Go Public

Today in restaurant and grocery tech news, Outback’s parent company faced unexpected hurdles in its most recent quarter, while military-themed coffee company Black Rifle announced its plans to go public via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Plus, Lisa Regelman, director of loyalty and growth marketing for Peet’s Coffee, discusses how contactless payment options are enabling the company to meet the evolving needs of its customers.

Peet’s Coffee Says Debit Cards in Mobile Wallet Offers Choice, Boosts Loyalty

The October/November edition of the Next-Gen Debit Tracker® explores the use of contactless debit, its security issues and how retailers benefit from its use.

New Study: 182M Consumers Now Use Digital Channels to Shop and Pay for Food

For The How We Eat Playbook, a PYMNTS and Carat from Fiserv collaboration, PYMNTS surveyed nearly 5,270 U.S. consumers about their preferences in dining and food shopping, learning that the surge in online food and grocery purchases “presents a massive opportunity for grocers and restaurants to win over new customers, but that largely depends on whether they can deliver the pickup and delivery experiences that meet online shoppers’ rapidly shifting expectations.”

Amid Disappointing Results, Outback Steakhouse Parent Touts ‘Honed and Refined’ Digital Sales Margins

With off-premise ordering proving sticky, Bloomin’ Brands, the parent company of several casual dining chains including Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill, is finding ways to make the economics of the various channels work in its favor. Still, the company is underperforming, and investors are taking note.

Paytronix Leveraging AI to Advance Order & Delivery Solution

Since acquiring and integrating Open Dining two years ago, guest experience platform Paytronix has been working to enhance guest loyalty for restaurants by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to improve its Order & Delivery solution. Paytronix CEO Andrew Robbins said in a press release emailed to PYMNTS that providing diners with a great restaurant experience is about “developing relationships” that move toward the longer term and beyond the single transaction.

Coffee Companies Perk up at Opportunity to Break Big on Public Market Following Dutch Bros.’ IPO Success

Coffee companies have seen Dutch Bros.’ success on the public market, and they are taking note. Seven weeks after the drive-thru coffee chain went public via initial public offering (IPO), a rousing success by most accounts, Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC), a coffee company focused on military veterans, announced on Tuesday (Nov. 2) that it plans to go public via a SPAC in a roughly $1.7 billion deal that is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

Restaurants Lag Behind Retailers in Showcasing Digital Inventory

The restaurant menu no longer needs to be static type on a piece of paper. Brendan Sweeney, CEO and co-founder of Popmenu, speaks with PYMNTS about how restaurants can leverage the learnings of other eCommerce businesses to boost engagement and build loyalty.