Each year, our sister publication Computer Dealer News hosts the Channel Elite Awards to recognize IT Solution Provider for their innovation, leadership, and commitment for creating value for their customers. As Canada’s leading IT channel publication, CDN invited solution providers to submit their best work to nine different categories for 2013’s awards. Here, we present the case studies these award nominees put forward to us. Find out who the big winners are on Sept. 11 when CDN presents them at the CEA Awards Gala.
Learn more about CDN’s Channel Elite Awards 2013
Nominee: Orckestra from Montreal, Quebec
Mobile Solution description
Orckestra’s latest collaboration with delivery and take-out pizza franchiser, has proved to be a rewarding venture for both parties. The multi-phase project kicked things off by stabilizing the customer transaction system used in its stores and call-centers. Previous attempts by two other vendors left the system struggling with system crashes and inefficient processes. Orckestra developed and created a mobile/tablet ordering option. This exciting addition has taken the pizza restaurant’s experience even further and is in line with the pizza restaurant’s vision – providing high quality pizza across multiple touch points and providing each and every customer with a remarkable experience.
What type of mobile architecture was deployed and how were these decisions made with security in mind?
The development of the mobile application was part of the larger strategy of expanding their omni-channel presence. Capitalizing on the explosion of mobile and social behavior meant that pizza restaurant’s could provide instant gratification and on-the-go convenience to take their customer experience to the next level. Having an integrated platform meant that ordering from a mobile after work for in-store pick-up, being able to contact the call center to make a change or to track the order real-time created a seamless experience that spanned across all channels. In-store pick-up, changing or tracking an order real-time via the call-center to create a seamless experience that spanned across all channels could now be realized.
How does this solution push the boundaries of a typical mobile computing solution and qualify as innovative?
The pizza restaurant receives at least 65,000 visitors to their website every week. Many of these visitors are through their mobile site. Therefore, the pizza restaurant required a mobile site that could support a large amount of visitors, a huge variety of pizza toppings and spikes in usage on weekends and social gatherings (ex. Super bowl night). Orckestra was able to create a robust and capable mobile platform that could handle the spikes in usage and create a user-friendly, easy ordering system for the pizza restaurant’s customers. Part of the mobile solution was the foster the “anywhere/anytime” ordering that is so important for mobile users. As such, customers are encouraged to log in and create a favorite list/past options list. Users can order a fresh, made-to-measure pizza in under a minute and can have it delivered to their doorstep in under 40 minutes. Doesn’t that sound delicious?
Why was this type of mobile solution the right choice for this business case?
First of all, the pizza delivery model is very much based on mobility and flexibility. A customer chooses to order pizza because they know they can expect fast, efficient, on-the-go delivery. Orckestra felt it was important to reflect the same philosophy in its mobile-based solution. Not only does it reflect the efficiency and scalability that the pizza restaurant stands for, it also means that people can order pizza the way pizza “lifestyle” is meant to represent: on-the-go, anywhere, anyone (all generations can easily use their user-friendly design) and from any device. “Pizza delivery is all about convenience, which drives the whole segment”, says the pizza restaurant’s COO. The company realized that it had a customer base that was on the go. People pick up pizzas on their way to soccer practice or dial in for a quick meal with friends or family. Because the primary function of the chain’s mobile strategy was to enable a seamless, quick transaction, the company began its mobile strategy first with a mobile-optimized Web site. As the customer base quickly evolves with technology, more and more users are demanding mobile apps and technology that enables them to operate solely from their handheld device. In keeping with the times, Orckestra’s mobile solution is a state-of-the-art platform that allows users to order from any device, save their progress and later return to complete the order. All data is linked to their account and they can easily re-order their favourites or create new designs within minutes.
How was the success of the system measured and what were the results?
Orckestra’s mobile solution had immediate and noticeable results on the pizza restaurant’s sales. In just 6 months, online orders doubled! That was a remarkable win for both Orckestra and the pizza restaurant. It proved that our sturdy mobile solution was key in developing their online ordering system and the design is a hit with customers. The pizza restaurant has received great feedback from their customers and the flexible and scalable mobile solution is always ready for spikes in usage.
How did the design and implementation of the solution break new ground for you as a solution provider?
From a technical point of view, the pizza ordering industry is difficult because so many options are available to customers. Orckestra has been able to take the complexity of the pizza ordering business and make it invisible to the customer. Just as a rough estimate, in terms of ordering possibilities, customers can choose from a combination of 660 QUADDRILLION (yes, you read that correctly) different toppings! This was definitely a complexity that Orckestra had to overcome and manage the many different styles and choices of each customer. To date, no other solution has offered so many different possibilities in terms of sheer quantity.
How does the solution further your client’s green or environmentally friendly plans?
By implementing the mobile strategy, the pizza restaurant was able to drastically reduce the “paper trail” of typical pizza orders. Orders were all transferred to local restaurants whereby everything was handled electronically and the order were always transferred to the closest restaurant to the customer (less fossil fuels used). At the restaurant level, customer service reps would assist clients waiting in line by using a tablet designed to take orders efficiently and again, always digitally, thereby reducing the environmental impact. Efficiency was always a main preoccupation for Orckestra’s project with the pizza restaurant. By going mobile, the pizza restaurant was able to reduce the overall environmental carbon footprint that each transaction normally would have used.
