News Briefs
- 2/11/2024
Wyndham Simplifies Group Travel, Brings Instant Booking to 5,600+ U.S. Hotels
Group bookings across the industry's largest portfolio of economy and midscale hotels will soon take minutes—not days—thanks to Groups360 and the rapid rollout of over 5,600 Wyndham hotels to the GroupSync™ Marketplace.
The shift is a welcome change not just for traditional travel planners (think meetings, weddings and events) but also travel managers, particularly those in infrastructure-centric fields like construction and logistics, whose crews need to spend weeks if not months on the job, often with as little as 24-hour's notice.
Through GroupSync, travel planners and managers can browse real-time rates and availability at participating hotels and directly book 10 to 50 rooms without needing to contact the hotel or engage in a traditional RFP—saving valuable time. Meeting space for events can also be booked at hotels when needed and where available.
"We're always looking for new ways to make it simpler and easier for clients to do business with Wyndham. Whether it's a family reunion, a youth sports tournament or a three-month-long bridge repair project—GroupSync makes it simple for groups to find the right hotel at the right price and book on the spot," says Angie Gadwood, SVP Global Sales, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
"Wyndham is one of the world's leading hospitality companies and their portfolio is unique in that it represents key property categories that expand GroupSync's Instant Booking inventory. In bringing their U.S. portfolio on board, we're able to deliver a broader, more robust, more inclusive offering—one that's better equipped to meet the needs of all travel planners and managers," says Kemp Gallineau, CEO, Groups360.
Wyndham's collaboration with Groups360 is the latest in a list of efforts to help its hotels tap into a multi-year, infrastructure-related travel boom and what it believes is a ~$3.3 billion revenue opportunity for franchisees. Last year, the Company expanded its Global Sales force by 25% and more recently, deployed new tools to help sellers better identify and capture infrastructure-related opportunities for franchisees.
Groups360 and GroupSync are also a part of Wyndham's innovative Wyndham Business program which, through a suite of tools and resources, aims to help make business travel easier for all. The program caters to small and mid-size business owners, travel advisors, travel buyers, meeting planners and more—all while offering discounted rates and exclusive perks.
The majority of Wyndham hotels in the U.S. are anticipated to be available for instant booking on GroupSync this week with the last remaining hotels expected to go live before end of month. To browse hotels, check-rates and availability, or complete a booking, visit groupsync.com.
- 2/11/2024
Nékter Juice Bar Partners with Qu to Unify Ordering Channels
Nékter Juice Bar has selected Qu as its preferred POS partner for all the company’s locations, including more than 300 open or in development.Nékter will standardize on Qu’s platform to holistically manage all order channels and unify guest, order and menu data. In addition, Nékter will leverage Qu Flex kiosks to improve guest service and labor efficiencies. Qu Flex serves as both a guest-facing kiosk and a traditional POS, allowing team members to quickly pivot between roles based on demand and labor availability.“Growth is a huge step for any restaurant brand and it’s critical to manage it responsibly for long-term success,” said Steve Schulze, co-founder and CEO of Nékter Juice Bar. “As we take our brand into the future, Qu’s omnichannel approach to simplifying the technology ecosystem is in perfect alignment with our goals.”Qu’s underlying cloud-native software platform provides a solution that allows Nékter franchisees to work more flexibly and generate additional sales opportunities while maintaining the brand standards that Nékter guests expect. Instead of a fragmented technology stack, Qu offers a unified omnichannel ordering universe for operators and guests. By seamlessly connecting the ordering, operations and brand functions, Qu delivers the real-time data needed to drive loyal, repeat customers and healthy revenues.Qu’s versatile Flex kiosk offers POS capabilities with the same order and payment flow but adds the functionality of a kiosk without additional hardware and space costs. With smaller footprint stores that use staff for both cashiers and food prep, this solution is perfect for Nékter. Thanks to the Qu kiosk, franchisees will be able to shift their POS to a self-service order taker when staffing is tight or otherwise engaged. In addition, Nékter guests are empowered with the type of menu choices and customization that increases per ticket averages, increasing overall sales. - 2/11/2024
Presto Raises $6M, Wins Appeal Against XAC
Presto Automation Inc., an AI and automation technology provider to the restaurant industry, has closed a financing led by its existing investors, including Remus Capital, a fund controlled by the Company’s Chairman, Krishna K. Gupta, and other investors, involving the sale of $6.0 million of convertible subordinated notes. One of the existing investors is also exchanging 3.0 million shares of the Company’s common stock which was purchased on November 21, 2023 for $3.0 million of Notes.
“This capital injection is a strong signal of my commitment to Presto and its shareholders - we have tremendous belief in the Company’s prospects in its rapidly-growing market and our continuing efforts to enhance shareholder value,” said Gupta.
“On the commercial side, our Presto AI Voice product serving the drive-thru restaurant market is enjoying significant momentum. Over a period of 2 months, we have more than doubled our total number of live stores on the Presto Voice technology to 145 as of February 1, 2024, including 54 locations that use the most advanced version of our AI technology. Restaurant operators are embracing our solution in part due to the California $20/hour minimum wage mandate which is taking effect on April 1."
In addition, Presto recently entered into an amendment to its Cooperation Agreement with Hi Auto Ltd., which supplies the AI technology used at 347 Checkers corporate and franchised locations. Commencing on May 1, 2024, the Company and Hi Auto will each be permitted to compete for the Checkers relationship, including franchised locations.
Presto also announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Xavier Casanova, has resigned effective immediately.
In other news, on February 8, Presto received a court order representing the favorable verdict received from the Singapore Court of Appeal in the final hearing of its case against XAC Automation Corp (5490.TWO) on January 16. The favorable verdict dismissed XAC’s appeal and upheld the award of $11.1 million previously made to the company adding an additional $32,000 award for costs associated with the appeal. XAC has no further recourse to set aside the award. Domesticating the award in Taiwan may take between several months to more than a year.
The Notes are convertible into 36 million shares of common stock at an initial conversion price of $0.25 per share and carry an interest rate of 7.5% per annum on a pay-in-kind basis. The issuance of the Notes triggered antidilution adjustments associated with the Company’s previous financing rounds.
The Company projects that the net proceeds from the offering, together with its other cash resources and projected revenue, are sufficient to sustain operations through the end of February 2024. The Company is required to raise at least an additional $6.0 million in gross proceeds on or before March 8, 2024 pursuant to the terms of the Forbearance Agreement it entered into with its lenders in order to receive additional forbearance.
- 2/11/2024
Givex's Role in KFC Canada's National Kitchen Tech Upgrade
Givex Corp.'s longtime client KFC Canada has completed a national kitchen technology upgrade across 402 stores implemented to improve the guest experience across all digital platforms. This upgrade is part of KFC Canada's long-term strategic initiative to leverage technology to meet evolving customer expectations in the ultra-competitive QSR space.
To support this upgrade, Givex partnered with Lenovo Canada and KFC Canada's internal application team to integrate the solution into the stores' existing IT infrastructure. Going forward Givex will support the hardware platform as part of its ongoing service agreements with the KFC Franchisee group.
"This announcement showcases Givex's evolution as a national enterprise level service provider," said John Beaton, President of Kalex Equipment Services, which was acquired by Givex in 2022. "Givex's acquisition strategy is now delivering the synergies which will not only expand the services we provide to our existing clients but also provide the platform to deliver Givex services and products to an exponentially broader client base."
With 12 global offices and a footprint of more than 128,000 active merchant locations, Givex offers gift cards, point-of-sale system GivexPOS, loyalty programs, Enterprise Services, GivexPay and more.
- 2/8/2024
Tripleseat's 2023 Data Insights Reveals Surge in Event Booking Revenue for Restaurant, Unique Venues
Tripleseat, a cloud-based event management software for the hospitality industry, shares compelling 2023 booking and revenue statistics highlighting a significant surge in growth driven by heightened demand for restaurant and unique venue private events.
The company's software, designed to streamline the event planning process for restaurants, hotels, and unique venues, facilitated over 3.5 million event bookings in 2023—a 16% increase from the previous year. Additionally, it successfully managed $7.3 billion in event revenue for its customers, showcasing a 21% increase over 2022.
"We’re thrilled to see this significant revenue growth and increased event bookings for our Tripleseat customers and shed light on compelling trends for the events industry," said Jonathan Morse, CEO of Tripleseat. "We aim to help our customers achieve success by providing the tools they need to maximize their profits and create successful engaging events for their clients."
The platform caters to a diverse array of event styles, and a review of Tripleseat customer booking data identified wedding receptions as the leading revenue generator, amassing $862 million in 2023 alone. Customers also hosted 29,000 rehearsal dinners, showing the revenue potential beyond traditional wedding day events. Additionally, corporate events experienced a resurgence, with 190,000 events hosted in 2023, signifying a return to in-person business gatherings. Birthdays, cocktail receptions, and holiday parties also proved to be popular events in 2023.
Tripleseat generated an 7.7 million event leads in 2023, showcasing a noteworthy 12% increase from the previous year. The platform not only delivers leads but also ensures a return on investment after hosting just two events. Beyond on-premise functions, customers generated over $411 million in catering, drop-off, and pickup orders highlighting Tripleseat’s potential to maximize diverse revenue streams.
- 2/8/2024
Corning Announces 5G Indoor Network Solution to Improve Hotel Experience
Corning Incorporated introduced its latest indoor cellular solution, the Everon® 5G Enterprise Radio Access Network (ERAN). This multi-operator, multi-band technology provides end users with robust, reliable cellular coverage in hospitals, hotels, airports, and other high-density environments regardless of their mobile provider.
In a major departure from legacy solutions, the newest addition to Corning’s Everon® portfolio supports multiple mobile operators over a common network. This can reduce installation time for enterprises by up to 75% and can also reduce cost of ownership by up to 50%. Traditional solutions provide cellular connectivity for only one operator at a time.
“Everon 5G ERAN sets a new industry standard by offering a streamlined solution for coverage-challenged places that are part of our daily lives, like hospitals, hotels, and office buildings,” said Shirish Nagaraj, Corning Optical Communications’ chief technology officer, Wireless.
Delivering robust indoor coverage has been a longstanding challenge for enterprises and operators. Local cell towers may have limited ability to penetrate dense building exteriors, causing dead zones or spotty service. This can become even more pronounced with higher-frequency spectrums used by 5G, such as C-Band.
Corning’s solution directly addresses these challenges. It combines the benefits of small cell radio access networks (RAN), which accommodate multiple frequencies, with the advantages of distributed antenna system (DAS) technologies, which provide reliable signals throughout high-density environments.
In addition, the solution’s Open RAN architecture works with components from multiple vendors, enabling software upgradability. It also uses Virtualized RAN technology, offering hardware flexibility through cloud-based data processing.
“Our newest Everon solution offers flexibility in design, predictability in deployment, and scalability for future needs,” said Nagaraj. “It highlights Corning’s dedication to solving the world’s toughest technology challenges alongside our customers – and improving the world with every innovation.”
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