New POS Enables Panda Restaurant Managers To Easily Customize Menus

Charlotte, NC - Panda Restaurant Group announced that the company is now implementing xpient Solutions' IRIS (Intelligent Restaurant Information Systems) point-of-sale (POS) and several other supporting applications in all new restaurants and is pursuing a retrofit plan for existing stores. System flexibility, ease of use, supportability within a large enterprise including enterprise data support tools were all key determinants in Panda's decision to move forward with xpient. "Before selecting IRIS, we ran an extensive test in which we installed IRIS in over 60 restaurants," said William Yu, Senior Vice President with Panda Restaurant Group. "Our store managers loved the way the new POS gave them the ability to easily customize the menu and quickly train new employees in its use. It was equally important to us to work with a supplier who listened to our input and who responded quickly to our needs."

"We consider ourselves privileged to be selected as the technology partner by the Panda Restaurant Group, the recognized leader in pan-Asian, fast casual dining concepts," said Christopher Sebes, President and CEO of xpient Solutions. "Panda's senior management team is a creative force in the food service industry. We are honored that they chose to share with us their forward-thinking plans and we are delighted with the opportunity this partnership provides to collaborate on the use of our technology to support Panda's overall business strategy."

Panda originally began the search for a new point-of-sale solution after determining that its existing hardware-based system was one of the limiting factors to its goal of achieving a twenty percent annual rate of expansion. The previous system lacked the flexibility required to support their growing needs and the expanding menu management requirements of the chain. "Last year we decided to look for an alternative," Yu said. "We found four vendors that were willing to partner with us but two proved to be unable to meet our needs relatively early in the testing process."

"Both of the two finalists offered excellent performance but we made the decision to implement xpient's point-of-sale and other strategic applications for several reasons," Yu said. "Number one is its ability to manage change, such as in the menu, pricing and text, at the restaurant level. Several vendors told us they could provide that capability but xpient was the only one that proved they could really make it happen. With stores from Puerto Rico, to Hawaii, to Minnesota, to Texas, we find that the same menu does not work in every store. And even in the same restaurant, what sells well in the summer may not do nearly as well in the winter months. IRIS makes it possible for store managers to pick from a wide list of menu items based on the taste of their customers. During the test we discovered this feature was very easy for our managers to use, despite the fact that many have limited experience with computers."

"xpient Solutions is very excited that Panda Restaurant Group has selected IRIS as its POS solution," stated Mike Banik, Regional Sales Vice President, xpient. "Panda Restaurant Group is a dynamic organization in both restaurant operations and technology deployment. Under the leadership of Andrew and Peggy Cherng, Panda is the largest Chinese restaurant operator and one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in any category. We established a close working relationship with Mr. Yu and his talented team during their comprehensive testing schedule and we are very pleased by the support and positive feedback from their information technology and their operations staff along with their restaurant managers who participated in this evaluation process. We are looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship between the two companies."

Yu said another major factor in the company's decision was the wide range of powerful add-ons for IRIS, some or all of which the company plans to utilize in the future. SecureAlerts delivers real value from existing video surveillance systems by linking a business rules engine that alerts management when pre-defined, triggering events occur and allowing full integration to POS. DriveTime is a new, non-proprietary methodology that interfaces with loop detectors to enable a dramatic improvement with speed of service measurements, making it possible to understand the various elements of an individual customer's speed of service experience. Visual Dashboard provides an interactive source of management information on the store from the back office or a terminal, and Real-Time Alerts provides immediate notification via cell phone, pager or email of a wide range of business conditions, drawing advance attention to potential problems and opportunities.

SOURCE: Panda Restaurant Group