Meredith Sandland of Empower Delivery on the Steps to Digital Maturity

Meredith Sandland, CEO of Empower Delivery, is one of those special people with a knack for creating positive change. Her company helps simplify complex ordering processes to make them more efficient, creating a greater opportunity for growth.

Watch now to learn about the tie that binds moving parts in a business, overcoming customer friction, and writing a follow-up book to Delivering the Digital Restaurant.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN on this episode of the Restaurant Influencers podcast, presented by the @Toast point of sale and restaurant management technology company? Let us know by leaving a YouTube comment below.

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Chapters:

[2:05] - Meredith Sandland 2-Minute Drill

[11:12] - Ghost Kitchens Explained

[25:27] - Digital Restaurants Globally

[33:09] - Meredith Sandland's "A-ha Moment"

[42:24] - The Path to Digital Maturity

Meredith Sandland is a Restaurant Influencer —

The CEO of Empower Delivery and co-author of Delivering the Digital Restaurant: The Path to Digital Maturity is an innovative problem solver in the emerging digital restaurant revolution.

“What folks in the delivery world have been trying to do is kludge together software that is really good software, it just wasn't meant for specifically solving the offpremise delivery problem. And because Empower Delivery was designed to do that, it works very well for that purpose.” Meredith Sandland explains to Restaurant Influencers host Shawn Walchef of

Empower Delivery is a digitally native holistic software that powers delivery-centric kitchens.

Meredith Sandland very successful track record at companies that include Yum! Brands and Kitchen United. She collaborated with fellow digital restaurant expert Carl Orsbourn to write the book Delivering the Digital Restaurant in 2021. Their follow-up digs deeper into what it takes for a restaurateur to survive and thrive in the modern economy.

As the restaurant business becomes more reliant on technology, leaders like Meredith Sandland are the connectors between the present and the future.

“Labor costs are getting very high.” she says. “And I don't mean to scare people and say, automation is going to take jobs inside of the restaurant industry. What I mean to say is it's going to make the jobs that remain… they're more productive, happier, focused on the things that only humans can do.”

As a former guest on the Digital Hospitality podcast (also hosted by Shawn Walchef), Meredith Sandland understands that humans working productively together with artificial intelligence is the way of an efficient restaurant of the future. There is some work that computers cannot do as well as a human being. The key is to figure out how to use AI for its intended purposes and continue to create a space where hospitality and customer care is the focus.

In the emerging delivery-centric restaurant economy The Path to Digital Maturity is important for all to learn.

“No amount of discounting will ever overcome friction.” she explains. “If your system sucks and it's hard, they're not going to come back. You have to make it as easy as ordering on the third party or they are not going to switch to your first-party system.”

EPISODE LINKS:

Empower Delivery Website

Delivering the Digital Restaurant

The Monday Minute Podcast

ABOUT MEREDITH SANDLAND (@meredith.sandland)

Meredith Sandland is the CEO of Empower Digital and author of one of the most impactful books in the digital restaurant industry. Empower Delivery was created to help delivery-centric restaurants have a hub for their services so that their systems are more efficient. As an author, she wrote Delivering the Digital Restaurant with Carl Orsbourn as well as its companion, Delivering the Digital Restaurant: The Path to Digital Maturity.

ABOUT RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS:

Welcome to the Restaurant Influencers podcast and video series. Every week host and restaurant owner Shawn P. Walchef (@shawnpwalchef) talks with leaders like Emeril Lagasse, Sam The Cooking Guy, and Marguerite Zabar Mariscal, and Rob Dyrdek about their secrets to running a business, modern branding, and how to show up where customers are spending time online.

• Published by Entrepreneur Media

• Produced by Cali BBQ Media

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