Latest news with #franchiseoperators
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How will AI change the restaurant business?
Restaurant industry leaders are excited for artificial intelligence to make the business better. No tax on tips or overtime, with a catch: What to know as Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' passes the Senate Psychologists now know exactly what makes someone cool. Turns out, the definitions are universal 'Alligator Alcatraz' merch appears on Amazon and Florida GOP website, making light of controversial facility But many feel unprepared to handle its implementation. That's according to a new survey from consulting firm Deloitte that asked hundreds of restaurant industry executives about their current use and future plans for AI. Overwhelmingly, respondents cited AI's potential to enhance the guest experience; to make a customer's time more enjoyable, comfortable, and memorable, as a top benefit of the tech. In fact, almost all—98%—operators in the survey said they expect a high impact on the customer experience in three years. AI is already showing up to help restaurant guests. It answers the phones, works the back office, and helps with marketing efforts. Eventually, it'll show up during table service. Plenty of restaurants are already using AI to their advantage; 8 in 10 industry leaders surveyed by Deloitte say they'll increase spending on the tech in the next year. Most of the survey's respondents work in quick service restaurants; nearly half work as franchise operators for larger brands. But that doesn't mean AI and its benefits are reserved for corporate restaurants. 'Big chains are usually first to test new technologies in the restaurant space, and AI is no different,' says Emma Blecker, a New York-based operations consultant. 'It makes sense, the tools are often built for them, and they've got the resources to spend on research and development, pilot programs, training, and rollouts. But that doesn't mean small operators are missing out.' For now, she advises, restaurants of all sizes can learn from industry early adopters, experimenting with new tech tools and ideas, like these: According to Deloitte's survey results, less than 1 in 5 surveyed leaders use conversational voice AI—tech that can talk—in their restaurant's daily operations now. But they plan to; roughly a third are testing or piloting the tech, with another third planning or developing a conversational AI strategy. Voice AI can staff a drive-thru, taking orders and upselling to guests with smart add-ons—think: 'Do you want fries with that?' except instead of blindly suggesting a side of fries to every customer, it uses factors like their order, time of day, or even the weather to suggest something else. It can also answer their phone, providing diners with info on location, hours, reservations, and other details, a boon for busy restaurants, like perennial San Francisco favorite Flour + Water, which tapped a local service called Hostie to work the phones. It's already made guests and employees happier. 'We're finding that people walking in the door already have answers to some of the questions they'd walk in with prior,' says Amanda Flores, director of operations for the Flour +Water restaurant group. 'That means fewer people walk in frustrated and the host gets to spend more time with people that are stoked to be here with their questions already answered.' Restaurant software has long collected data on diners—average spend, visit frequency, dining preferences—and AI can help make sense of all the numbers. For example, a text-based feature from reservations and customer relationship management platform SevenRooms helps restaurants segment customers into target groups and generate text messages to invite them to special events, share new menu items, or offer same-day reservation nudges. Celeb-chef backed Fabio Viviani Hospitality group, an early product tester for SevenRooms, said the tech helped book 1,800 reservations and drove close to half a million dollars in revenue in six months. The group's chief marketing officer said the texts had a 98% open rate. About half of restaurant operators in the survey say they already see a high impact from AI-enhanced loyalty tech; another quarter think they'll see a high impact in three years. The case for AI at fast food and other casual restaurants is straightforward; it can make the experience faster, easier, and more pleasant for people on both sides of the transaction. But integrating technology into full-service dining is a trickier proposition; even the best bots can't replace warm, in-person hospitality. But it can certainly help, and a new generation of devices has the potential to enhance human service. Plenty of companies are working on new, hands-free devices—pins, glasses, earpieces—though transformational change is likely years away. (Jony Ive, the longtime Apple design exec and architect of the iPhone, recently sold his new company to OpenAI with vague promises to right the iPhone's wrongs, moving our eyes from screens to reality.) In fact, it's already being tested. Yum China, the Shanghai-based parent company of American brands KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, and also the largest restaurant company in that country, just debuted a hands-free AI assistant for some of its KFC restaurant managers. They wear earphones and smart watches wired to process language and offer help, from inventory reminders to real-time troubleshooting. It's a pilot program, but the point is to help employees look up from screens and better interact with the physical world in front of them. Still, practicalities might slow progress. In Deloitte's survey, less than a third of industry leaders said their business's tech and talent are ready to implement big AI-related changes. In a recent conversation, Kelly Esten, chief marketer for restaurant point of sale company Toast, declined to speculate on how soon transformative new hardware might arrive at America's restaurants. But Esten agrees it's coming. 'I do think we're going to go through another platform shift,' she told me, 'and it creates a tremendous amount of opportunity for restaurants and for restaurant tech.' This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter:
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
UK government ‘closely watching' £120m legal claim against Vodafone
Ministers are closely watching a court case in which Vodafone is alleged to have 'unjustly enriched' itself at the expense of franchise operators, and have raised the prospect of a regulatory crackdown on the sector. The small business minister, Gareth Thomas, has said he will 'track very carefully' a £120m legal claim brought against Vodafone last year by a group of 62 of about 150 franchise operators. They allege that drastic cuts to commission rates on selling Vodafone products in the group's high street stores caused many of them to run up huge personal debts. They say they fear for their livelihoods or homes, and some have reported suicidal thoughts. Their court filing claims the company 'indiscriminately … operated to enrich Vodafone at the expense of its franchisees'. Thomas told MPs on Wednesday: 'There are without question some very serious allegations being levelled at Vodafone in this case. 'Until now there has not been sustained concern about the quality or effectiveness of the self-regulation of franchises in general. However, I recognise that this particular case has raised concerns across the House and I will track very carefully what happens in this case and the final outcome and conclusions that any court case might come to.' Thomas was speaking in parliament during an adjournment debate secured by the the former Conservative minister John Hayes. He told MPs: 'Franchising can be used as a method to exaggerate the power of the business at the heart of the franchise and to weaken the position of franchisees. My assertion is that is common and is particular in the case of Vodafone.' Luke Akehurst, the Labour MP for North Durham, said: 'There are major corporates that treat their franchisees very badly, that sign them up on one set of terms – one rate card – and then change the goalposts. 'And then when people dissent and complain about that, they find that their franchise is withdrawn and they lose their investment when they have put a great deal into that corporate giant. I think this is a matter that, in the near future, is going to require some ministerial attention.' Talks to settle the franchisees' legal claim against Vodafone ended without resolution in May, leaving the case potentially heading for the high court. Vodafone was approached for comment. It has previously said: 'This is a complex commercial dispute between Vodafone UK and some franchise partners and as we have said from the beginning, we refute the claims.' Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The company has also apologised 'unreservedly to anyone whose experiences while operating their business has impacted [their health] in this way' , adding: 'Where issues have been raised, we have sought to rectify these and we believe we have treated our franchisees fairly.' Vodafone has just completed a deal to merge its UK operation with rival Three to create Britain's biggest mobile phone operator. Vodafone's chief executive, Margherita Della Valle, said in May that the merger would involve job cuts where the two businesses had a duplication of functions and roles, although overall it would create jobs as it embarked on an €11bn (£9.5bn) upgrade and expansion of its 5G network over the next decade.
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Talks to settle £120m legal claim against Vodafone end without success
Talks to settle a £120m legal claim between Vodafone and more than 60 of the mobile phone group's franchise operators have ended without resolution – leaving the case potentially heading for the high court. The case was filed in December with the claimants accusing Vodafone of 'unjustly enriching' itself by implementing a series of cost-cutting tactics as the UK emerged from initial Covid-19 restrictions in 2020. The drastic cuts to commission rates paid to franchisees were blamed for the small business owners running up huge personal debts and fearing for their livelihoods or homes, with some reporting suicidal thoughts. A group of 62 of about 150 Vodafone franchise operators joined the legal claim against the telecoms company. Vodafone has said it apologises 'unreservedly to anyone whose experiences while operating their business has impacted [their health] in this way' and added that 'where issues have been raised, we have sought to rectify these and we believe we have treated our franchisees fairly'. The opposing sides had been engaging in a series of mediation talks, but they failed to come to an agreement. A spokesperson for the claimants said: 'As a group, we entered into the mediation process with the best intentions. We are extremely frustrated that the process failed to resolve this dispute, which would have allowed both parties to move on. 'Our group was formed because Vodafone's decisions have caused significant and direct harm to the individuals' businesses and lives. We will now continue our efforts to seek justice through the court process. We remain absolutely committed to securing redress and accountability for everyone affected.' Margherita Della Valle, the chief executive of the Vodafone group, said that despite the initial talks failing to end the dispute, the company intends to engage in further discussions. 'The commercial dispute is specifically between Vodafone UK and some of our franchisees,' she said, delivering the company's results for the year to the end of March. 'Our first joint attempt at mediation has not resolved the dispute despite our best engagement. We remain open to further discussions as the process continues.' Vodafone, which reported an annual pre-tax loss of €1.5bn (£1.26bn) due to non-cash write-downs at its struggling German and Romanian operations, is in the process of completing a deal to merge its UK operation with rival Three to create the UK's biggest mobile phone operator. She said that the merger will involve job cuts where the two businesses have a duplication of functions and roles, although overall it will create jobs as it embarks on an €11bn upgrade and expansion of its 5G network over the next decade. 'Across the two companies there will inevitably be some overlaps that will create synergies [job cuts],' she said. 'However, overall we expect the merger to create jobs in the UK. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion 'From a pure headcount perspective the reduction that comes from overlaps between two companies will be more than compensated in [new jobs due to] network build implications. It will be positive in terms of employment.' Vodafone said that its turnaround plan for its biggest market, Germany, which has lost customers due to a change in pay-TV laws, is nearing its end as the group now plans for 'growth acceleration'. She also said that while the newly announced UK-EU trade deal would not impact its operations directly the better cooperation across Europe would only prove beneficial for infrastructure companies. 'Think about telecoms being critical national infrastructure,' she said. 'It is important for our companies to have scale and good levels of investment. It is also important given the geopolitical environment that the UK and Europe have good security and resilience in that critical infrastructure. 'In that sense cooperation between the UK and Europe will benefit from increased cooperation.'
