Latest Podcast



Featured Articles

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

UK service providers must notify customers when they connect to a different network

New rules from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom will protect customers when they use their mobile phone on a foreign network. In addition, customers will be alerted if they are inadvertently roaming, perhaps because they're near an international border.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS

Opinion Articles

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The story behind the Pizza Express iPhone app

Mark Bridge writes:

Recently Pizza Express introduced a new iPhone application that lets customers book a table and pay their restaurant bill. The app was developed by 2ergo, a UK company based in Manchester.

Last week I spoke to Colin McCaffery, Product and Technology Director at 2ergo, to find out how difficult it was to get the app and the restaurant’s own technology working together.

“In the early days, when apps first came out, you saw a lot of what I would describe as quite static apps. What we’re seeing now is many more apps coming out which actually integrate with other third parties and are much more functional. On Pizza Express, we had to integrate with Pizza Express’s systems themselves, integrate with PayPal for payment and also integrate with Pizza Express’s point of sale vendor and infrastructure. The key to all this is to make the customer experience very slick.”

“Take the back-end point of sale vendor, they’d never done anything like this before so they’re really used to closed systems in restaurants, a one-to-one relationship between the restaurant and their back end. We said ‘we need to open this right up and actually communicate over the mobile channel’. So it was quite a big undertaking for them - very much from a thinking point of view - to move to that much more open and more connected experience.”

Research by Pizza Express had shown (understandably!) that asking for and paying the bill were the least-enjoyable parts of a customer’s dining experience. As a result, 2ergo incorporated these features into its app. Customers can now ask for a bill reference number at any point during the meal, enabling them to pay by phone whenever they want.

“You could take your bill, it’s got a reference number on the bottom, you type that into your Pizza Express app. 2ergo then make a data call to the back-end systems of Pizza Express and validate that it is a valid bill at that restaurant; it comes back and it presents the amount to the user. The user can then add a tip onto that bill and they can pay by PayPal. We take the credit transaction from PayPal and we communicate to the Pizza Express back-end systems to say ‘yes, you can release that table’. The really clever bit is that it actually pops up in the restaurant till system to say, for example, ‘table 15 has paid’, so you know you can walk out the restaurant. It takes a traditional internet payment provider like PayPal and it allows you to pay in the real world using your phone.”

Colin said the Pizza Express iPhone app had already been downloaded thousands of times and had reached no.1 in the lifestyle app chart on iTunes.

Our conversation went on to cover app development, user experience and the creation of a ‘good app’. Click here to listen using the built-in player on our website, pick up our podcasts via RSS or find the show on iTunes.
Print
Author: The Fonecast
2 Comments
Rate this article:
No rating

Categories: Applications, OpinionNumber of views: 7721

Tags: payments applications iphone 2ergo

2 comments on article "The story behind the Pizza Express iPhone app"

2
0
Avatar image

Poker Face

9/14/2011 9:55 AM

Wow!!! Here is something interesting that may help us with booking in pizzerias and of course with.... paying bills!!!


0
0
Avatar image

John Casino

9/20/2011 7:18 AM

this is a nice and very informative article...i enjoyed it ...PIZZA EXPRESS has started a nice system...i am really very happy to know about this thing....thank you for sharing this information...plz do share more with us....

Leave a comment

This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data.
Add comment

Recent Podcasts

Ofcom straightens out contracts, LG makes a curved phone and a mobile security company is accused of crooked dealings

Podcast - 30th October 2013

We start this week's podcast with Ofcom's announcement that it's clarifying the rules for fixed-term mobile phone contracts.

There's also a new curved smartphone from LG, accusations about a mobile security company, information about mobile phone thefts, a report into the UK's communications infrastructure and some quarterly results figures.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

The world of mobile payments

Podcast - 28th October 2013

M-commerce and mobile payments are terms that can mean several different things.

In this special podcast we learn more about the subject by talking to Tim Green, editor-in-chief of Mobile Money Revolution.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

What is HTML5 and what does it mean for mobile?

Podcast - 25th October 2013

HTML5 is often described as the shape of things to come; sometimes as the future of the web and sometimes as the nemesis of native mobile applications.

But exactly what is 'HTML 5' - and what does it mean to the mobile industry?

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

New tablets coming to the UK from Nokia, Apple, Amazon and Argos

Podcast - 23rd October 2013

There's plenty of product news in this week's podcast, with a new Apple iPad and new tablets from Nokia and Argos as well.

We also talk about HMV's battle with the Apple App Store, new 4G tariffs from Tesco Mobile, Samsung's patent proposals and a complaint about coverage maps.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Mobile app promotion - top tips and salient stats

Podcast - 18th October 2013

If you've created a mobile application, you'll want people to download it, use it and tell their friends. But how can you ensure that as many people as possible know about your app?

Today's podcast is designed to help with some of the answers. It was recorded in London at the very first App Promotion Summit earlier this year.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS
First1112131416181920Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Twitter @TheFonecast RSS podcast feed
Find us on Facebook Subscribe free via iTunes

Archive Calendar

«November 2024»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
28293031123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
2526272829301
2345678

Archive

Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement