News from the Wire

Olo, Conversable bring conversational commerce to restaurant industry

Tuesday, August 30, 2016 — 13:03:09 (EDT)

New York, Aug. 30, 2016 -- Olo and Conversable, Inc., two enterprise SaaS platforms making commerce easier for consumers, announced today a partnership to enable social ordering using chat and messenger applications for the restaurant industry.

The integration, available today, allows customers to place orders using popular messenger applications while pulling in live menu and item availability. Customers are given a link to complete payment on a secure server where they can quickly check out with an existing account or as a guest. This collaboration enables several benefits for restaurant brands and customers alike:

• Convenience: Deliver great service to customers in messaging apps where they are already spending the majority of their time, with no need to bounce between apps or sites.

• Integration: Customers see live menu and item availability and orders are injected directly into popular POS systems to streamline operations for the kitchen.

• Security: Payment is processed on a private and secure PCI Level 1 compliant server. In-store payment is also available if brands opt to enable it.

The technology first debuted in June when Wingstop, the award-winning wing concept with more than 900 locations worldwide, launched social ordering on both Twitter and Facebook Messenger. Through the first-of-its-kind, dual-platform conversational technology, Wingstop fans are able to start an order, customize it to include choices from across Wingstop’s full menu, enjoy easy check-out and get pick-up notifications without ever leaving their social channel of choice.

“With conversational ordering, Wingstop is able to engage our exceptionally social customers with a fun and convenient way to place orders within the social channels where they live and play,” said Flynn Dekker, Chief Marketing Officer at Wingstop.

The Conversable-Olo integration is platform-agnostic, allowing brands to create conversational commerce experiences on the channels that resonate with their customers such as Facebook Messenger, Twitter and Kik.

“Olo’s focus on innovation and commitment to constantly improving the end customer experience makes them a perfect partner for Conversable. Leveraging the Conversable platform will provide a new level of convenience for Olo deployed customers and allow ordering directly in the messaging channels their customers prefer,” said Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Conversable.

"As digital interactions get smarter and we see customers spending more time in messaging apps, we're thrilled to work with a partner that prioritizes both customer experience and complex business logic for our restaurant brands," said Marty Hahnfeld, Olo’s Chief Commercial Officer. "The integration with Conversable manages to pull all of these gritty parts of a digital transaction into something that feels very natural to the customer."

About Olo:

Olo helps restaurant brands maximize revenue per square foot by delivering faster, more accurate, and more personal service to their customers. Through beautiful, fully-branded digital interfaces, Olo's enterprise-grade ordering platform integrates with the brands’ existing systems, opening new digital revenue streams injected seamlessly into the restaurant’s operations. Olo is a pioneer in the industry, beginning with text message ordering on mobile feature phones in 2005. Today, over 25 million consumers use the Olo platform to Skip the Line® or get food delivered from the restaurants they love. Clients include Applebee’s (DIN), Chipotle (CMG), Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Jamba Juice (JMBA), Noodles & Company (NDLS), sweetgreen, Wingstop (WING), and more. Learn more at www.olo.com .

About Conversable:

Conversable is the enterprise SaaS platform for creating intelligent, conversational messaging experiences. The technology helps enterprises deliver customer self-service, conversational commerce, and on-demand content via major messaging and voice applications, including Facebook, Twitter, SMS, Skype, Amazon Echo, Slack, Hipchat, and Kik. For more information about Conversable: conversable.com .

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Source: Company press release.