Chris Comparato, CEO “Perennial gardening is not an easy hobby; it requires dedication and a deep understanding of seasons, geography, and plant families. And even though it takes years, the end result is incredibly satisfying,” says Chris Comparato, CEO of Toast. As a perennial gardener, Comparato discerns that going deep into gardening is, interestingly, very similar to venturing into the restaurant arena. “Achieving merit in the restaurant space requires similar focus and deep experience across a range of disciplines, but it proves to be very rewarding to solve for the restaurant owners' challenges and goals,” he adds. Nevertheless, the restaurant space has been underserved by the technology providers and continues to remain largely isolated, as most of them are proprietary, non-mobile, and non-cloud based. This has limited most of the potential capabilities within the restaurant chains. Headquartered in Boston, MA, Toast is attempting to unlock a large enterprise change in the restaurant vertical, through an open, flexible, and robust cloud platform.
“We have embraced the technology shifts currently happening around the world,” says Comparato. Toast encompasses cloud based orientation coupled with real time visibility, android tablets, and e-commerce through their Toast Restaurant Point of Sale (POS) Platform. The software comprises Enterprise Reporting, through which managers can instantly view how the business is performing. “Real time analytics at your finger tips will enable better decision making,” opines Comparato. In addition, detailed sales, menu, and labor reports are securely accessible from any internet-connected device through the cloud platform. Furthermore, an enterprise menu management tool, incorporated in the software, can update restaurant menus at each section and individual locations. Changes within the menu can be also performed at all locations, making it easier to manage many menus at once.
Toast’s innovative Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system automatically stores sensitive restaurant customer data like email and phone numbers on secure cloud-based servers, which the client can use to run promotional campaigns and expand their loyalty programs. “The restaurant space has become a hyper competitive market, so focusing on customer experience and engagement is of core importance to help restaurants increase their revenue,” adds Comparato.
Toast also enables customers to host their own online food ordering and delivery system through their integrated online ordering software. The software automatically updates online menus to reflect in-store availability and tracks deliveries from the kitchen to the customer’s door. The company further provides 24/7 phone support that enables customers to approach Toast’s developers for any technical support.
Consistently innovating to create value through their solutions, Toast has made an indelible mark among clients in the restaurant arena. In an implementation highlight, one of their Boston customers, Finale, was finding it challenging to continue with the traditional POS system. After approaching Toast, Finale implemented the Toast Restaurant Tablet POS system. By successfully leveraging the solutions from Toast, the client received real-time access to data for all of their locations, which was erstwhile placed in different silos. Moreover, a 15 percent increase in the client’s sales was reported after bringing Toast to their systems.
For days ahead, Toast is steering toward improving the technological ability of their platform to run more business analytics and data science for ensuring effective results. “We are also planning to innovate further in the enterprise restaurant space in the upcoming year,” concludes Comparato.
The restaurant space has become a hyper competitive market, so focusing on customer experience and engagement is of core importance to help restaurants increase their revenue
