Slerp’s white label solution for hospitality operators has been growing in “leaps and bounds” over the past few years, according to chief commercial officer Zal Dordi.
Speaking at MCA’s Hostech conference earlier this month, Dordi told delegates that the tech supplier and digital business partner has only “scratched the surface” when it comes to white label.
“The uptake has been amazing,” he said. “Restaurants have realised it’s important to meet customers where they are. We’re just scratching the surface of a huge opportunity.”
Slerp and Crosstown founder JP Then came up with the idea for Slerp in 2016 as a way to build his own ecommerce solution, later expanding it during the pandemic to offer a tech solution to other operators.
“Restaurants, much like other industries, will realise digitisation is a must-have, and that’s why white label demand will continue to grow,” Dordi added. “It’s slick, it’s seamless, and it’s a really interesting challenge for restaurants on how to make it work for them.
“The goal is to empower the hospitality space to build a sustainable ecommerce platform and business for themselves.
That includes delivery. We work closely w Uber Direct as one of the fleets on our platform, and make sure restaurants can maximise their control and set up systems to capture customer data.”
A white label customer base can drive business and loyalty as well, also increasing profitability, according to Dordi.
“It’s about how restaurants ensure they can capture data and engage with those customers on a long-term basis. How do you get them to keep coming back and become truly loyal customers for the long haul?”
One of the ways is a white label solution, says Dordi, recounting the early days of his career at San Francisco-based delivery platform DoorDash.
More than 50% of brands’ orders were from customers who have ordered from them before, demonstrating their loyalty with the brand.
“At DoorDash, we saw ourselves as building the pipes for all ecommerce delivery,” he said. “Fundamentally, restaurants are brands.
“The marketplace has created this customer behaviour and expectation that they can get whatever food they want at the click of a button.
“Long term, I see white label dominating, because that’s the brand people want and that’s the brand they’re going to get.
“Our partnership with Uber Eats thus far has been positive because our missions are aligned in trying to help restaurants grow their business.”
