Eye on Online Ordering: Smaller Tech Players Aim at Smaller Eateries Impacted by Covid-19

With restaurants in most major markets across the country forced to shut down on-premise dining because of the Covid-19 outbreak, online ordering, takeout, and delivery services are suddenly in the spotlight as local restaurants and other small, independent establishments grasp at technology to stay alive. That’s an immediate opportunity for major vendors, but also for smaller, lesser-known providers, including mid-size and smaller independent sales organizations.

With online-ordering capability now taking center stage, Bryte Payment Solutions is rolling out a product it developed last year but now sees as urgently needed. “What we’ve seen is actual closures, where the restaurant owner just gave up,” says Dave Humphrey, cofounder and president of the Jacksonville, Fla.-based ISO. With “all hands on deck,” he says, “within a week we got this out. Time is of the essence.” The software, he adds, can be up and running at a restaurant within two days. In light of the emergency, he says Bryte is waiving fees and monthly minimums.

By Friday, some 127 independent owners had adopted the service through resellers working with Bryte, while between 25 and 30 demo requests are coming in every day, according to Humphrey.

In related news, No App Needed, a San Francisco-based payments-technology provider specializing in independent restaurants, has announced a platform allowing establishments to take orders from any device and schedule food pickup via a Web link. As the name implies, there’s no app. 

To cut costs for owners wary of delivery-service fees, the company has integrated its software with Google Maps to make it easier for customers to find the restaurant for pickup. It also says the platform is available free of subscription fees until Sept. 30. Payments are accepted via Apple Pay and Google Pay, with processing via Square Inc. or Stripe Inc. 

“We originally came up with this idea to help our friends’ restaurant keep more of their profits,” says company founder Oliver Clarke, in a statement. “We’re launching now during the Covid-19 emergency so that other restaurants can leverage contact-free pickup and sales.”