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As annual results come in and 2024 strategies get set, restaurant operators are looking for innovative ways to reach and delight new guests. In Q4 2023, Olo unveiled eight major product enhancements designed to help brands unlock new revenue streams and create more seamless, convenient ordering experiences.
Keep scrolling for a deep dive into our three most significant enhancements—how they work, why they matter, and who benefits.
For a complete list of new features and to hear what Olo COO Jo Lambert is most excited about, head to the Winter Release page. There you’ll also see the positive impact of one of our Fall 2023 product enhancements: Olo Pay’s Automated Dispute Response feature.
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Catering+: Tax-Exempt Status
What it is: Catering+ can now recognize and authenticate tax-exempt status within the Olo Dashboard.
How it works: Users can authorize tax-exempt status for guests, validate expiration dates on file, apply appropriate pricing, and complete catering orders for tax-exempt organizations.
Why it matters: To fully capitalize on catering demand, restaurant brands must be able to tap into the critical segment of 1.7 million registered tax-exempt organizations in the U.S.
How restaurants benefit: Many brands today manually adjust and record tax exemption for catering orders, causing inefficiency and compliance issues. This new feature unlocks a larger segment of the catering market for restaurants and makes tax-exemption management more efficient.
How guests benefit: Tax-exempt organizations, like nonprofit, civic, and religious entities, can now easily place catering orders from their favorite restaurant brands.
Pay at Table: Split Checks and Survey Integrations
What it is:
- Split checks: Using pay at table, dine-in guests can split the bill however they choose—without the help of a server.
- Survey integrations: Once the bill has been paid, restaurants can survey guests on their experience to gather valuable feedback in real time.
How it works:
- Split checks: Guests scan a QR code on their receipt and can elect to split the bill equally, split by items, or define specific amounts to be paid by each guest.
- Survey integrations: Customers using Sentiment can now integrate with pay at table to trigger post-transaction surveys and get in-the-moment feedback on the guest experience.
Why it matters:
- Split checks: Splitting the check multiple ways is a high friction point for servers and guests. The process is typically time-consuming, manual, and requires multiple steps.
- Survey integrations: One of the biggest benefits of digitizing on-premise orders is collecting guest insights. Yet, post-transaction feedback is traditionally difficult to obtain.
How restaurants benefit:
- Split checks: By creating a frictionless on-premise checkout experience, restaurant brands can boost guest satisfaction, tips, and table turnover.
- Survey integrations: Surveys enable restaurants to demonstrate they value guest feedback and use those actionable insights to improve the business.
How guests benefit:
- Split checks: Whether guests are dining with a group or splitting the check with a date, they can now pay using their mobile device—with their digital wallet, if desired—and easily divvy up the bill.
- Survey integrations: Guests get the opportunity to provide feedback while it’s fresh in their minds and potentially shape future dining experiences.
Borderless Checkout: Expanded Availability
What it is: Olo’s Borderless checkout feature is now available to all customers using Serve, our white-label online ordering solution.
How it works: Borderless was built to make the restaurant checkout process as quick and simple as possible. The first time guests enter their payment and contact details, they can save that information for future use.
Because that information is saved at the platform level, guests can speed through checkout for each subsequent purchase—with that restaurant brand or others in the Borderless network—without having to remember a password or re-enter information. All they have to do is enter their email address or phone number and input the one-time code they receive to verify their identity and authenticate the purchase.
Why it matters: Digital-first guests demand a secure and frictionless checkout experience. But until now, Borderless checkout was only available to brands on Olo Pay. With this expanded availability, more brands can meet guest expectations for a seamless checkout experience and maximize digital sales.
How restaurants benefit: Brands using Serve have seen increases in checkout conversion and order frequency with Borderless—at no additional cost.
How guests benefit: Guests can securely speed through checkout without the hassle of recalling passwords or manually entering payment information. And, because of our integration with loyalty partners on Serve, guests can earn and redeem loyalty rewards while using Borderless.
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Getting Started
Visit our Winter Release page for a full list of all product enhancements released in Q4 2023. Olo customers can reach out to their CSMs to learn more about these features and how to put them to good use.
Not using Olo yet? Contact our team to start a conversation.
