Background & Challenge
PizzaExpress, a well-loved pizzeria in Singapore, continuously seeks innovative channels to enhance customer experiences and establish a distinctive position in the competitive restaurant industry.
To deliver exceptional service and unforgettable dining moments, PizzaExpress recognised the importance of leveraging technology to revolutionise their communication strategies. Their goals included effectively promoting events and promotions, extending membership benefits to a wider audience, and ensuring seamless customer experiences. This case study explores how PizzaExpress achieved these objectives by adopting Oddle’s “Virtual Lounge,” setting a new standard for excellence in the F&B industry.
The Solution
Enhancing the in-store digital experience
Prior to adopting the “Virtual Lounge,” PizzaExpress faced the challenge of limited table space, making it difficult to accommodate multiple collaterals such as banners and cards. This led to a cluttered and unappealing dining environment. To overcome this obstacle and create a streamlined and visually pleasing solution, PizzaExpress adopted the use of Oddle’s Virtual Lounge.
With the Virtual Lounge, PizzaExpress bid farewell to excessive printing and wasteful materials. They now effortlessly showcase their promotions by uploading eye-catching visuals directly into the user-friendly interface. This approach enables instant updates and tailored messaging, capturing customers’ attention without the need for physical banners or cards and lead time required to print such materials. By reducing their reliance on print materials, PizzaExpress not only contributes to environmental sustainability but also saves substantial costs, which can be reinvested in enhancing the customer experience.
Engaging off-premise customers
The advantages of the Virtual Lounge extend beyond PizzaExpress’ dine-in customers. Recognizing the popularity of their delivery service, the restaurant decided to incorporate QR codes on their pizza boxes. This strategic move eliminated the need for flyers in every delivery order, reducing clutter and ensuring that promotions reach customers in a more direct and dynamic manner. With the QR codes, PizzaExpress gains an additional channel to connect with their customer base, maximising their reach and boosting brand visibility.
Furthermore, PizzaExpress leveraged the Virtual Lounge to engage guests with upcoming reservations. These guests receive a booking confirmation SMS containing a link to the Virtual Lounge, enabling them to view ongoing promotions and specials even before they arrive at the restaurant. This resulted in quicker turnaround times as guests spent less time browsing and deciding on their orders or inquiring about various specials.
Driving marketing objectives with engaging content
PizzaExpress utilised the Virtual Lounge to promote a variety of exciting campaigns, each with a different marketing objective and desired customer outcome.
Firstly, PizzaExpress leveraged the Virtual Lounge to drive membership sign-ups and foster a sense of exclusivity among their loyal patrons. Visually stunning and enticing engagement cards effectively communicated the benefits of joining their membership program, enticing customers to sign up and unlock a world of exclusive offers, discounts, and personalized rewards.
Additionally, PizzaExpress tapped into the growing trend of DIY experiences by using the Virtual Lounge to showcase their DIY Pizza Kits. A short video with depicting a family with kids helped PizzaExpress effectively deliver the message of campaign and piqued interest amongst guest.
Furthermore, PizzaExpress utilised the Virtual Lounge to promote their ability to host unforgettable events. By highlighting their spacious and inviting venue, along with their expertise in organising memorable gatherings, they were able to easily direct guests who were interested in booking their venues to the enquiry page.
Through these campaigns, PizzaExpress successfully engaged their customers with targeted messaging, captivating content, and a seamless user experience. The use of the Virtual Lounge helped to increase brand visibility, customer engagement, and ultimately drove marketing outcomes for the team at PizzaExpress.
Taking away the guesswork
The adoption of the Virtual Lounge by PizzaExpress has unlocked a multitude of benefits that extend beyond streamlined communication and cost savings. One significant advantage is the newfound ability to track offline customer behaviour and preferences, a feature previously elusive to the restaurant industry.
Traditionally, restaurants relied on subjective impressions to gauge the effectiveness of their campaigns. There was no concrete way to measure customer interactions with collateral or gain insights into their preferences. However, with the implementation of the Virtual Lounge, PizzaExpress could now have access to data on how customers interact with their marketing campaigns.
The Virtual Lounge tracks where customers come from and how they interact with the Virtual Lounge. A analytics dashboard allows PizzaExpress to view how many unique customers have browsed the Virtual Lounge, what Engagement Cards get the most impressions or which links have the most click throughs.
This newfound ability to track offline customer behaviour is a game-changer for PizzaExpress. Armed with data-driven insights, they can make informed decisions on future campaigns, tailor their offerings to align with customer preferences, and enhance the overall dining experience. By leveraging the Virtual Lounge’s tracking capabilities, PizzaExpress can refine their marketing strategies, ensuring that each advertisement resonates with their target audience and maximises the return on investment.
Conclusion
PizzaExpress successfully used Oddle’s “Virtual Lounge” as a new communications channel to reach customers, whether on-premise or off-premise, elevating the overall customer experience for patrons.
By being able to dynamically promote events and promotions through a digital medium, PizzaExpress was also able to reducing reliance on print materials, in turn driving cost savings and also gave PizzaExpress more data and insights over their campaign preferences, allowing them to tailor future campaigns.
Are you a restaurant owner or manager seeking to improve your dining experience and grow your business? Take the first step towards creating a best-in-class digital experience for your customers by exploring our Virtual Lounge solution.
