Pizaro’s Pizza, a beloved family-run institution in Houston, has been serving up authentic Neapolitan, New York, and Detroit-style pizzas since 2011. With two bustling locations, Pizaro’s has built a loyal customer base over more than a decade. You can learn more about their delicious offerings and order online at Pizaro’s website.
After 13 years using their previous Point-of-Sale (POS) system, owner Nicole Bean recognized a critical need for a change to enable her business to grow.
The Challenge: Outgrowing a Legacy POS System
For over a decade, Pizaro’s relied on Hunger Rush, formerly Revention, their point-of-sale. While it served their initial needs, the system began to fall short in several key functions, particularly after the pandemic years. Nicole found that her previous POS was “failing” them and “wasn’t taking [them] where [they] wanted to go.” Promises of new features and improvements went unfulfilled, leaving Pizaro’s without the modern tools needed to enhance customer engagement, streamline operations, and compete effectively.
Nicole’s operations faced serious shortcomings due to their old technology platform:
Inefficient Marketing
The company relied on costly external third-party services like MailChimp for email marketing, which was cumbersome, complicated, and lacked seamless integration.
Operational Bottlenecks
Pizaro’s realized that certain deficiencies with their existing system were holding them back from being more efficient in processing customer orders and completing their own deliveries on a timely basis.
Nicole recognized that to continue growing and serving their customer base effectively, they required a capable technology platform that offered robust integrated marketing tools AND sophisticated operational functionality.
The Solution: A Seamless Transition to FoodTec
In 2024, Pizaro’s made the crucial decision to switch to FoodTec. Despite the inherent challenges of migrating from a system used for 13 years, Nicole’s hopes for operational benefits and top-line gains were realized in short order.
“FoodTec has gotten us a lot further than we anticipated, since switching over. The switch so far has been really good and very positive with minimal issues of having to call for customer support, which has been very pleasant.”
This smooth transition allowed Pizaro’s to quickly adapt and begin leveraging FoodTec’s capabilities to meet their evolving business needs.
Increased Customer Engagement
One of the most immediate and impactful benefits has been FoodTec’s ability to revolutionize Pizaro’s customer engagement and measure marketing efforts:
Integrated Email Marketing
“The email marketing has been amazing,” Nicole shared. “It’s so nice to be able to utilize the email marketing within the system.” Before, she used MailChimp, “which was an additional cost… now we’ve got templates and we’re able to utilize those in a very seamless way that fits our brand.” This internal capability has reduced costs but also empowered their team to easily create targeted campaigns, leading to “more sales overall” and reaching “customers we’ve never been able to reach before.”
Intelligent Promotion Engine
Pizaro’s has effectively utilized FoodTec’s Target Market module to drive repeat business. The restaurant implemented an 8-week program for new subscribers, offering an initial discount followed by selective offers. This system provides “key indicators that let me know what’s happening with this specific customer,” allowing Nicole to track redemptions, trends, and better understand customer behavior.
Unexpected Dine-In Growth & Loyalty
Nicole noted an increase in dine-in customers, “which is quite opposite of what most people (operators) tend to see.” Furthermore, FoodTec has enhanced Pizaro’s comprehension of customer loyalty. Nicole now receives “thank you” replies to customer feedback emails, with customers expressing appreciation for the personalized communication and discovering new offerings. “Making this change just with the POS has really made such a difference.”
Streamlining Operations and Empowering Staff
FoodTec has improved Pizaro’s daily operations, allowing staff workflows to be more efficient while enhancing the overall customer experience.
Effortless Credit & Comp Management
Handling customer issues, such as order adjustments, has become simple. FoodTec allows Pizaro’s to easily offer credits or comps that “auto-generate” on the customer’s next order, making the process “very easy” for staff and ensuring “communication between us, the customer and the system [is] a little bit more seamless.”
Caller ID
Nicole highlights FoodTec’s caller ID as the feature her staff relies on most. “Honestly, it’s tremendous to have that because it’s one less step for us to have to input the customer’s information.”
Intuitive User Interface (UI)
The transition to FoodTec’s user interface, personalized for Pizaro’s, was smooth. Nicole praises its “much more seamless to use” design with a “fun scroll bar versus multiple tabs.” The system also provides “much better” kitchen remote order printing and handles “half and half” orders “much more seamlessly for my staff.” New staff members quickly adapt to the system, with Nicole noting, “We don’t even have to think about the previous system. We just moved forward with this and never even mentioned the old system.”
The Impact: Pizaro’s Continued Success
Nicole notes: “There are so many features in this system, it’s impossible for someone not to be satisfied with it.”
The partnership with FoodTec has empowered Pizaro’s to enhance customer communication, drive sales through integrated marketing, and streamline daily operations, making sure they are well-equipped for continued success and growth in the competitive Houston market. Visit Pizaro’s or order online at https://pizarospizza.com/ to experience their delicious food and efficient service firsthand.
Are you also looking to enhance customer engagement, streamline operations, and drive sales? FoodTec Solutions offers digital tools designed specifically for pizzerias to help you grow. Contact us and see how to take your restaurant to the next level.