Data is only as good as the actionable insight it brings. This growth-tool gold mine is currently scattered in pockets amongst your multiple systems carried from various touchpoints with your customers. Before you throw capital at a potential fix, join this panel conversation with NCR’s hospitality data, analytics and AI leaders and the former C-suite and executive alumnus of Google, Focus Brands + McDonald’s on discovering the best way to harness the power of data via solid strategy and architecture to get your customers to visit one more time and spend a little more. 

The Autonomous trucking industry will significantly transform the supply chain. This session will address the current state of the AV trucking industry and its impact on your food service supply chain. Join us as Lee discusses what leading companies like McLane are doing to adopt, integrate and scale autonomous trucking.

The restaurant business is changing so rapidly, that the things we call innovation today will quickly become tomorrow’s table stakes. In this session you will get an exclusive review of PepsiCo’s Digital Lab’s 2021 learnings of the key drivers for growth and how to leverage the tools and best practices for your concept with consumers in mind.

Consumer demands have changed; they expect more while restaurants are working with less. In this session, we will explore the evolution of brand protection for operators through labor challenges, technology integrations as well as heightened consumer awareness of food safety and public health. 

Globally, sustainability is rated as an important purchase criterion for 60% of consumers, 61% in the US (source buisnesswire.com). During this session we will exam what menu sustainability is, who it’s important to, and why. From LTO’s to fully sustainable menus, see how operators are making an impact. What could a sustainable menu mean to your operation? Join and find out!

A new normal has emerged in the restaurant industry, requiring operators to accelerate their digital capabilities to meet your customers whenever and wherever is most convenient to them, achieve greater levels of efficiency in your restaurant operations, and keep your employees engaged and focused on delivering a great guest experience. In this session, Microsoft will share its approach to helping enable digital transformation in the restaurant industry, highlight customer case studies with industry-leading brands including Chipotle, Starbucks, and a global QSR chain, and share examples of delivering innovation with two of our strategic partners, AT&T and Nvidia.

Key Learnings:

• How to maximize the value of your data and gain deeper insights on your guests to drive higher levels of visit frequency and brand loyalty
• Understand the primary benefits of how an IoT connected kitchen can transform your restaurant operations
• How to leverage voice ordering and AI to drive greater order accuracy and labor efficiencies at the drive-thru and in-store

Privacy standards are evolving and the world has moved into a digital evolution. Utilizing rich customer data is essential for accurately targeting existing and new customers. In this breakout you'll hear from top restaurant brands about evaluating their data to building strong campaigns while discussing the future of customer relationship management platforms.

Join our panel of restaurant industry leaders from Inspire Brands, Yum! Brands, and Cousins Subs to hear how they’re driving unit growth in 2022 and implementing advanced technology for optimal location based decisions.

The market dynamics of the past couple years have reminded us that growth is ongoing and involves countless factors some controllable, others not. One thing that has remained consistent, though, is the importance of taking a holistic approach to portfolio development. Starting with site selection and sales impact analysis, real estate teams position their brands for success by making data driven decisions to balance high per location revenue with overall market share.

But the work doesn’t end there: most brands will also need to consider relocations and closures at some point, whether due to shifting demographics, expanding trade areas, or new competitors. While these options may not be ideal, determining how and when to implement them is critical to maximizing your portfolio’s net revenue.

The restaurant industry is in a critical time of innovation. The rise of third-party delivery and mobile ordering has caused a shift from brick-and-mortar business to omni-channel experiences that cater to customers increasing needs for optionality.

Join Red Lobster, Hopdoddy, and Radar in this session as they discuss their strategies for digital transformation including:

• How to design a frictionless customer experiences
• The trade offs of on-prem vs. off-prep dining experiences
• Using technology to create a more productive labor workforce
• Where the restaurant tech stack is headed next

Is your job as a restaurant leader easier or harder than it was 5 years ago? Restaurants keep adding to their tech stacks, but are they really getting the results they need? When faced with staffing shortages, supply chain issues, and the host of other challenges facing restaurant operators today, there is no time to fight with disparate systems and applications that don’t work together. Unified commerce is changing the way brands engage with their customers and employees to create a better experience and to ease operational pain. Join this session to hear from restaurant innovators as they share firsthand how they are taking back their tech stacks, one application at a time.

You want to increase your differentiation and traffic, but menus are shrinking, costs are up, and labor and supplies are tight. So what can you do? In today’s environment, there is a BIG opportunity for LIMTED TIME OFFERINGS. In this session we will dive into the art and science behind successful LTOs. The discussion will be supported by a panel of three industry experts sharing their experiences in utilizing LTOs to drive differentiation and traffic.

Hear from employee experience experts from SMG present research and best practices on how to create a competitive pay, rewards and benefits strategy in a challenging labor market.

Today, we are living through one of the most volatile and fast-paced business environments in history. Inflation, supply chain issues, talent shortages, health and regulatory compliance are all driving a pace of change we have never seen before. Many restaurant brands have struggled to keep up, but one thing we have seen is the pace of digital transformation accelerate and compress from years to months. 
Join Rob Lauber, CEO and Founder of XLO Global, and Scott Dunnewind, SVP of Customer Success, from Inkling as they discuss the state of digital transformation in the restaurant industry. Rob has decades of experience in the restaurant industry as CLO of McDonald's and VP, YUM! University at YUM! Brands. Scott works with all of our restaurant customers as our SVP of Customer Success including Restaurant Brands International, Steak N Shake, Taco Bell, Whataburger, and Inspire Brands to help them implement innovative, digital training programs aligned with restaurant operations. 

In this engaging fireside chat, Scott and Rob will explore: 

• The current state of digital automation in restaurants
• The Importance of Digital Transformation of the People Experience
• How to Increase Training and Operational Velocity with Digital Tools
• The impact digital transformation can have on brand and restaurant performance

We will focus on how to utilize paycards to minimize both touch points and employee contact when distributing employee related payments. Recently the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced a new opinion on Earned Wages Access (EWA) and this session will discuss how that opinion impacts paycards.
 
Objectives:

• What Vendors are subject to licensing requirements by the California Financing Law (CFL) or California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law (CDDTL)." 
• “A third-party with no financial obligation to the employee could not rely upon this reasoning, because the funds provided would be for the recipient’s temporary use, and the third-party would presumably arrange to recoup the amounts it advanced.”
• DFPI reviewed seven criteria in reaching its conclusion:

      1.    Funding Source – Employer funded
      2.    Data Integration with near zero risk of overpayment – Accurate net earned wage calculation
      3.    Funds Delivery - Instantly to the employee’s account of choice 
      4.    Fee Structure – Transparent and capped
      5.    Typical Usage – Fee to transfer amount and frequency
      6.    No Legal Recourse against employee
      7.    No Other Employee paid products attached to Earned Wage Access 

Find out 4 ways smart technology can make a difference in the foodservice industry’s broken supply chain with the Buyers Edge Platform’s CTO, Josh Tackett and VP of Marketing, Andy Rosenbloom.

Today’s restaurant technology market is made up of countless products from thousands of companies. 

From brand new tools launched by VC-backed startups to well-known solutions from established players, restaurant leaders are faced with products made by very different companies, at very different life stages, pursuing very different strategies. 

From the users they prioritize to where they invest their R&D dollars, it’s no surprise that tech companies’ corporate strategies deeply influence their product strategies. 

Designed for leaders looking to pick the right long term partners across every part of their brand's tech stack, this talk will pull back the curtain on the connection between corporate strategy and product development in restaurant tech. 

By exploring how different types of tech companies at different growth stages make decisions, as well as the influence of M&A and integrations, leaders will leave with an actionable set of tips and insights to build better technology partnerships for their brands in the future. 

2022 remains a year of transition as the path to recovery continues. The constant innovation and sustained flexibility of restaurant operators are creating a new future for the restaurant industry as we continue to deal with workforce challenges and the need to drive operational efficiency to have a positive impact on business performance and bottom lines. In this session, National Restaurant Association experts glean insights on key workforce and operational trends data. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn the current state of the restaurant industry
2. Identify key strategies in recruitment and retention of your workforce
3. Understand how technology can drive operational efficiency and provide actionable insights into your business

All session attendees will receive a free copy (valued at $350) of the National Restaurant Association “2022 State of the Industry Report”.

Restaurant sales are back to pre-pandemic levels, but it’s on the back of the highest menu price inflation since 1982. And that’s on top of an expected economic inflation rate of 7% this year. In short, consumers are feeling the crunch – over 60% already say that rising prices have made dining out too expensive.

So, how far off is the “tipping point,” that spot where the price pressures outweigh the value consumers receive? And will it ultimately push down demand? This panel, moderated by industry veteran, Peter Boivin, will explore these questions and address how insight, incentives, and strategy can inspire your guests to act.
This panel will cover:

• How inflation forces restaurants to rethink supply chain and pricing strategies
• Anticipating the “tipping point” when rising costs drive down consumer demand
• Tactics restaurants can use to keep – and win – more guests

Alex Canter, Co-Founder and CEO of virtual restaurant company Nextbite, will lead a panel discussion with the authors of “Delivering the Digital Restaurant - A Roadmap to the Future of Food” - Meredith Sandland and Carl Orsbourn and a Dine Brands executive leading virtual restaurant efforts. The panel will address how to know when your restaurant is ready for ghost kitchens & virtual brands, answering operator questions such as:Where are you on the Restaurant Digital Maturity Curve? When should you consider bringing in virtual brands, and when to add another?”

Digital ordering is where things start. Whether it’s orders coming in from a website, mobile app, third party aggregator or even through a QR code for table service, digital ordering is how guests interact with most brands. But it’s also just part of a full guest experience. The real advantage comes when you can tie that digital ordering information into a loyalty platform, then use all that data to bring the entire experience to the next level. Artificial intelligence enables a brand to better target its guests to create more personalized experiences, and ultimately building the long-term customer lifetime value. Only by capturing and retaining customer for the long-term can you drive business to new heights. 

Crowdsourcing has become one of the best approaches to get answers to tough questions, and we're bringing the power of crowdsourcing to RLC! Bring your questions (and your experiences) to this session and get feedback directly from other attendees. What the @#&! should I be doing with all this data? How can I drive visits without discounting? What's a CDP and do I need one? Great questions! This session will help you get the answers. The only two rules: 1) questions must be related to customers, customer data, or marketing technologies and 2) come ready to participate!