The MonkeyMedia Software story began 20 years ago at Tony’s Deli in Vancouver. Tony’s Deli had a thriving retail and catering operation, desperate for innovation. As Erle Dardick, owner at Tony’s Deli, and eventually founder & CEO at MonkeyMedia Software, realized, his retail point-of-sale register did not have the functionality to manage the complexities of his off-premise service channels. Specifically, around his catering business, where an advanced tool set was required to manage his customers (CRM), their orders, invoicing, and the production and distribution of his catering orders.
Luckily, Dardick, with a couple of web developers who were buildng web-based software in the same building as Tony’s Deli, created the business logic and solution set required to effectively and efficiently manage takeout, delivery, and catering service channels for Tony’s Deli. When Dardick sold Tony’s Deli in 2002, he realized the market opportunity for the software platform and started MonkeyMedia Software. Today MonkeyMedia Software’s MONKEY platform serves more than 80 restaurant brands covering over 6,000 restaurant locations across the US and Canada.
As food deliveries gain traction, restaurants now realize how important it is to leverage operations outside their four walls. This is especially crucial for restaurants that focus on catering as data shows that more than 80 percent of catering orders are delivered. This creates both challenges and opportunities to improve and optimize the experience and relationships with customers.
Helping Restaurant and Catering Brands Deliver
While software was the primary business for MonkeyMedia Software, the group has now evolved to three divisions. In addition to MonkeyMedia Software, The Catering Institute, was created to help restaurant operators focus on the business strategy, education and program development associated with off-premise service channels. It is now a division focused on education and consulting, helping restaurant operators grow their off-premise sales. Catering Insights also was established to highlight off-premise best practices and focuses on storytelling and thought leadership within the off-premise space.
Food delivery has always been a part of the company’s DNA, which is why two years ago the team at MonkeyMedia Software saw the need to enhance their distribution toolset. They created a mobile app that helps drivers manage their deliveries, enables restaurants to track their drivers, and lets customers know where their deliveries are in route.
Then Bringg stepped into the picture.
MonkeyMedia Software was about make a substantial investment to create an in-house, all-in-one solution when they were introduced to Bringg’s platform. The Bringg platform could easily be integrated with MonkeyMedia’s Software solution set, without the company having to spend the time and resources necessary to create a similar in-house solution.
Partnering With Bringg
After running an initial pilot with three restaurant brands, MonkeyMedia Software decided to integrate the Bringg platform into their product suite, enabling them to offer all of their customers a complete solution – connecting order management with delivery management and optimization – while providing full visibility and a superior customer experience across the entire operation.
The partnership with Bringg has had a huge impact on MonkeyMedia Software’s operation, as they were able to demonstrate a quick ROI. First, on the operational level, the ability to send restaurant orders directly to drivers via the Bringg app was a major game-changer from an efficiency standpoint.
Second, real-time tracking was a big hit from the get-go. This new layer of transparency and visibility across the board helped MonkeyMedia Software’s restaurant clients manage their fleets more effectively, and provided customers with much-needed visibility. For catering in particular, deliveries used to generate a lot of calls from customers who wanted to confirm or verify the status of a large delivery ahead of a big event. Since they started to use the Bringg platform, the number of customer service calls has significantly reduced.
Finally, the Bringg app serves as a tool for drivers to take pictures of the catering order’s setup and presentation. This helps restaurants audit their services to ensure order accuracy and even serves as a resource to train new drivers.
We look forward to seeing what’s in store for MonkeyMedia Software as we continue to work with them in pioneering solutions to manage, automate and optimize restaurant off-premise service channels with their technology, know-how and passion for great service.
