Pizza Hut and KFC ordering

Have you ever thought about what kind of software processes occur after you push the “pay” button on a restaurant’s website? A web ordering application works discreetly in the background and its core logic is relatively uncomplicated. That being said, through its extensive base of APIs and integrations with other parts of a food ordering ecosystem,  it is a  real swiss army knife, powering online ordering for different brands, countries, and loyalty platforms.

A web ordering application was written as a frontend+backend solution for the Polish branch of  Pizza Hut. It was designed as a complex system of applications gathered around the client’s internal restaurant IT network powered by Oracle Micros. It greatly enhances  the functions of a globally popular system originally designed to run brick-and-mortar restaurants and hotels, providing it with a web and mobile presentation layer, diverse online and mobile ordering and purchasing possibilities along with a powerful set of APIs to integrate with third party ordering . The client requirements were as follows:

• Online menu presentation platform, based on the company’s central data source, dynamically synchronized with menu updates and information regarding product availability.
•  A fully-fledged online product configuration interface for customers,
• Ordering and payment functions, including different delivery options, geographically based restaurant delivery selection, and an option for personal collection
• Company’s call center integration via a dedicated application for CC employees to enter orders, manage complaints, and  change orders
• Loyalty system integration, and different national localisations

The first iteration of the application we produced was dedicated to the Pizza Hut brand. Along with the continuous progress of AmRest services digital transformation the project’s scope gradually grew, including implementation for the KFC brand, leading to localization in 5 countries and integration with multiple new versions of the menu and restaurant application that take the place of Oracle Micros position.

• Core server Java/Spring Framework powered application. The most demanding element was the implementation of complex Micros product models and the price calculations related to them. Our application successfully works with all model types from simple products like a Pepsi bottle, through combo meals, like “Hot wings + french fries + soft drink” to most complicated of all - the pizza,
• Integration with Micros Enterprise Manager, the company headquarters master data repository, from which our application downloads current menu information.
• Creation of Ordering API, a multifunctional tool providing menu and accepting orders from many different platforms including dedicated web and mobile interfaces, third-party applications, and in-store self-service kiosks.
• Integration with Micros RES POS API, allowing the app to pass an online order directly to any restaurant system, the same way the waiters and bartenders do through their manual interfaces.
• Integration with a geographic information system to assign the online orders to the nearest restaurant for completion.
• “Skip the line” mobile functionality, enabling  hungry customers to “click and collect” a meal, meaning that customers can buy a meal in advance, and then go directly to the collection window to claim their order
• Multiple loyalty platforms integrations including our own and third-party software
• Application’s localization in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia, and France

In 2018 r. we performed a major UX upgrade to our Pizza Hut website interface. The operational goal was to substantially increase the website's speed and fluency, as well as to optimize users’ experience taking effect in an increased conversion rate. The work covered javascript loading and performance optimization, search results pagination to optimize loading and parsing time, and content caching. Teaming with an independent UX consultant we also went through the shopping funnel, shortening the purchasing process and eliminating points of uncertainty causing users to abandon the process. The optimization process allowed us to increase the website’s speed by 8% along with an 18% increase of conversion rate from the beginning of the purchase process.