Pizza Hut Asia

PIZZA HUT

LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

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TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION TO IMPROVE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE WRITTEN BY

SOPHIE CHAPMAN PRODUCED BY

KRISTOFER PALMER

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PIZZA HUT IS UNDERGOING A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND CUSTOMER RETENTION AND ENGAGEMENT. CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER FOR APAC, TROY BARNES, TELLS US MORE

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izza Hut wants to create a world with more ‘yum’. As part of the Yum! Brands corporation, a Fortune 500 company based in

Kentucky, the company prioritises its customers’ experience. Troy Barnes, Chief Customer Officer for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region at Pizza Hut, believes that with a focus on the consumer journey, the business will see positive results. Barnes’ role is made up of three key pillars: restaurant excellence, digital experience and restaurant technology.

“Restaurant excellence focuses on what happens in store – products, delivering pizzas and food safety standards and service culture. Digital experience is about understanding how customers want to interact with the brand and delivering on that, largely through online purchasing, whether that be the website, app, social media or messaging” he explains. “Restaurant technology looks at the underlying technologies that support the employees

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“ Collectively, we have brought that customer mindset to the core of our strategy” — Troy Barnes, Chief Customer Officer for APAC, Pizza Hut

of our franchises. Things like point-ofsale platforms, inventory supply chain, labour management, and supply and demand modelling.” Underlining all three pillars is customer engagement, in which Pizza Hut looks to understand and assess how each aspect works collectively under the customer experience umbrella with the strategic focus of having more customers more often to Pizza Hut. Since his position was established as the first customer role in the APAC region last year, Barnes and his team

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have worked to bring the consumer to

is about an end-to-end experience that

the forefront of the business. “Collec-

will offer an overall, seamless benefit

tively, we have brought that customer

to the customers – the company is

mindset to the core of our strategy

building the know to better understand

– including our engagements, part-

and create more value to the consum-

nerships, workshops and franchise

ers’ journey. “Leveraging digital is really

growth. We have reworked the busi-

about what journey a customer is cur-

ness with a more focused lens around

rently going through, what journey you

the customer itself, well supported by

want to create, and more importantly,

our other regional and global counter-

what journey a customer is looking for,”

parts. Our job is really then to augment

he says. When evaluating the entire

that focus with building capabilities,”

process, the firm will then divide it into

comments Barnes.

key priorities, such as the fast-casual

For Pizza Hut, digital transformation

digital store. “It’s really a concept that w w w.pi z z a hu t . co. u k

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creates a common experience on the back end of understood and defined journeys. It enables our customers to order pizza for themselves and their families in a very frictionless, seamless and easy way,� Barnes explains. On a strategic level, Pizza Hut is aiming to establish a consistent perception of its franchises across all markets, with finetuning to specific local needs, usually within the menu. The company is focused on making the brand relevant to all customer segments locally – ensuring ease, quality and excitement no matter the location.

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Troy Barnes Troy is a transformational leader driving entrepreneurial and cultural change with a focus on delivering value for customers.

Extensive experience in process improvement, operations, IT, program and project management, training, coaching, mentoring and consulting leaders in a diverse cultural environment. Particularly interested in challenging situations needing transformation with a focus on customer experience and business growth. Specialties: Transformation, Customer Experience, Innovation, Process, Change Management, Lean Six Sigma, Portfolio, Program and Project Management, Coaching, Mentoring and Training.

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The kitchen revolution

As operators add more digital channels to their restaurants, it creates new complexity and challenges.

Restaurants have been used to controlling the transaction flow. Now, with the rise of delivery marketplaces, mobile applications and in-store selfservice, restaurants need to compete at a higher level and adapt to a digital-first ordering environment.

This means ensuring proper routing of orders into the kitchen, a focus on food quality and distribution at the right time and data/analytics to measure and improve the performance of the kitchen. Key trends impacting kitchen optimisation and production, include: • The rise of off-premise ordering & delivery To meet this growing consumer demand, restaurants need robust kitchen production systems to accommodate the flow of orders into the restaurant from multiple channels.

• Speed of service Consumers no longer have any patience for waiting in lines or waiting for food. They essentially want to “speak” directly to the kitchen.

• Growing dependency on kitchen data Real-Time production metrics are fast becoming a requirement. Operators need to be able to gauge order volume, production status, progress order times and manage staffing levels within their kitchen in real-time.

© 2019 NCR Corporation Patents Pending

Successful brands we work with are investing in kitchen optimisation and production technology to stay ahead of the curve. NCR Kitchen Operations solutions enable restaurants to plan and prepare for anticipated spikes in order volumes and manage the production of orders coming from all channels to improve the customer and staff experience.

Brands that are leveraging NCR Kitchen Operations and Digital Signage are also improving the customer experience by providing guests with accurate quote times and order status notifications via text paging and in-app notifications.

Large quick-service chains using our technology have increased their speed of service by as much as 15% with improved visibility into order volume, production status, order times and staffing levels.

Over 30,000 restaurants around the world use NCR Kitchen Operations to manage their kitchen production. While not visible to consumers, kitchen optimisation and production technology reduce errors, reduce waste and have a tangible impact on the customer experience.

Find out more. Visit www.ncr.com/restaurants and see how our technology can help your business thrive.

“ Leveraging digital is really about what journey a customer is currently going through, what journey you want to create, and more importantly, what journey a customer is looking for” — Troy Barnes, Chief Customer Officer for APAC, Pizza Hut 11 Pizza Hut has always prioritised

digital stores have definitely provided

listening to its customer feedback and

a lot of uplifting customer feedback

ensuring that any changes it makes to

which we track globally on an order-

its operations will be beneficial for the

by-order basis. The response of overall

consumer. “Technology is really break-

satisfaction and ease with which our

ing new ground by making life easier

consumers can order pizza through

– with apps or websites, social media

this new platform has increased dra-

and messaging platforms, a lot of

matically. This positive feedback has

brands and organisations are trying to

translated into sales and revenue at the

compete in the space of making it easy

end of the day.”

for customers to engage with them, al-

Barnes highlights the importance of

lowing the business to satisfy the con-

customer retention within the compa-

sumers’ needs,” Barnes notes. “The ex-

ny’s operations: “We want to under-

periences and journeys that have been

stand the behaviour of the consumer in

created as part of these fast-casual

regards to preference when ordering w w w.pi z z a hu t . co. u k

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“ I think the exciting part is that I don’t have the answer to what that will actually look like, and that’s the thrilling part of a five-year plan” — Troy Barnes, Chief Customer Officer for APAC, Pizza Hut

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a pizza, regardless of the brand. An understanding of that behaviour would give us insight into a mindset.” The company has been working on a datadriven project that revolves around the behaviour of customers. Once the data was collected, the company then established a “very purposeful and personalised” capability. “We’re moving away from segmentation and broad-based or broadcast marketing that leans towards certain offers and discounts. Instead we’re opting towards engaging with consumers on more of an emotional and personal level to create a more meaningful relationship,” Barnes adds.

As the company continues on its digital transformation journey, Barnes see Pizza Hut’s growth through two key aspects: “I think Pizza Hut will continue to evolve its presence in how it delivers an experience for consumers that becomes world class. I also think the firm will continue to leverage the core of its business, and the brand that underpins that, augmented by its internal culture to really drive a new way of creating those experiences.” Despite the clear goals set by the company, its digital transformation journey is not set in stone. “I think the exciting part is that I don’t have the answer to what that will actually look like, and that’s the thrilling part of a five-year plan.”

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www.pizzahut.co.uk