PAR Technology: POS Disruption & Owning the Consumer Relationship

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Customers obviously desire a unified system that can communicate data more easily. Is the user interface good enough for them to accept this more cobbled-together system, as opposed to a smaller company building from scratch? I'm not sure if smaller companies are doing this from scratch, but they might not have the deep functionality yet, which could keep customers away. I'm trying to understand the difference between a new build, a modern platform, versus what PAR is doing by buying good businesses, putting them together, and making them suitable for enterprises. Does that approach work?

Your last question was about the upstarts saying they'll build it bespoke and beautiful from the start. These companies pose a legitimate threat to PAR. One such company is Qu, Qu POS. They're taking the opposite approach. They recently acquired a company called Fourtop, which is like a smart kitchen product. They're trying to build an enterprise POS that is fully unified, not a collection of products, but one unified experience with all the features an enterprise needs. They're on their way, but it will take many years to accomplish.

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You mentioned Starbucks and McDonald's owning their own technology, and Wingstop as well. Wingstop has a great digital interface, and I believe they have developed a lot of their own technology in-house. Is there a certain scale at which it becomes more appealing for companies to do this? Is it because they have the margin profile that allows them to choose between buying versus building? It seems like not many are building from scratch. What might prompt that decision, or would that be a risk for PAR in the enterprise space?

The restaurant industry is about to learn a hard lesson. They've allowed delivery platforms to build relationships with consumers while neglecting their own. As a result, platforms like OpenTable and DoorDash are marketing directly to consumers, offering choices, while restaurants haven't developed deep relationships with their guests. Consequently, restaurants have become fungible, and consumers don't care as much about where they dine.

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