Technology

How Red's Savoy, Paytronix built the storefront of the future

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October 19, 2022

Minnesota-based Red's Savoy Pizza has built an efficient and savvy tech stack, designing a digital storefront made for success. That was the takeaway from a webinar titled "How Red's Savoy Built a Digital Storefront of the Future" on Oct. 13 hosted by Fastcasual.com and sponsored by Paytronix.

Red's Savoy Pizza was founded in 1975 in St, Paul Minnesota, said Reed Daniels, CEO. It started franchising in the mid-2000s and now has 18 locations with six in development.

When Daniels started working for the company as an outside vendor, it used three different POS systems and cash registers at some locations. There was no digital footprint. His first move was to get all the stores on the same POS system, then building loyalty and gift card programs.

He then joined the company as chief marketing officer before being promoted to president. His goal now it to innovate the pizza company with an intuitive tech stack.

"Between 1965 to now, the digital landscape has completely shifted," Daniels told Ryan DiLello, a restaurant specialist with Patronix, who helped Red's Savoy build the tech component of their business. "There were not computers back in 1965. There were not (mobile) phones. … What the guest has wanted and how they have chosen to adapt over time have left some businesses – think Blackberry – out. When they don't adapt as fast as other businesses, it has left them out in the cold."

DiLello said 33% of all of Paytronix's orders were received digitally in March 22, and 55% of all digital orders were for carryout as opposed to delivery or curbside in March. Finally, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a 42% dip in sales when comparing Jan. 2022 to Jan. 2020.

Daniels said Red's Savoy switched over to Patronix for its POS system in March of 2020 just as the pandemic hit. "Our numbers shot through the roof," Daniels said. "That was partially because the technology was better. We had a better integrated solution for the guests to get a rewards account to get and redeem their points."

Daniels added that the company had 11 "dark days" when sales were down 30-50% thanks to the onslaught of the pandemic, but then Red's Savoy had a record April, May, June, July and August in 2020 as people tired of cooking at home.

"Our average ticket is $9 higher online than when someone calls our store," he added.

To learn more about how Red's Savoy built their digital tech stack, click here to watch the entire presentation.