There’s no denying that over the past two years of the pandemic era, digital investment and off-premises capabilities have become the norm for both small and large restaurant companies. But Nabeel Alamgir, CEO and cofounder of digital ordering and marketing platform Lunchbox, believes we’ve only just scratched the surface of what virtual restaurants and digital marketing could look like for restaurants moving forward.

Bayangkan bisa memakai headset virtual Oculus dan "berjalan ke" restoran khusus pengiriman yang hanya ada di ruang digital, atau berpartisipasi dalam minggu restoran berbasis NFT di mana pelanggan dapat mengumpulkan NFT dengan makan di restoran yang berpartisipasi. Ini adalah beberapa proyek khusus yang sedang dikerjakan dan diluncurkan oleh Lunchbox.

Alamgir is the former chief marketing officer at casual-dining burger chain Bareburger who came up with the idea for Lunchbox after lamenting how much money restaurants spend on third-party delivery commission fees. Though the focus of his career has largely been marketing, Alamgir has become a notable rising star of the restaurant technology space.

Lunchbox began as a delivery solutions company to help restaurants become more independent and either invest in self-delivery or use third-party delivery as a last-mile service. The goal was to help operators build up their online presence so that customers go to the restaurant first instead of just scrolling through Grubhub.

Beyond direct delivery, Alamgir’s technology platform is a multi-faceted digital solutions manager with marketing, technology integration, consumer data, POS, branding and website design tools for its customers. His big idea for the industry is to become the one-stop-shop for restaurants looking to build out their digital storefront.

“Toast is everything in-store; Lunchbox is everything outside the four walls,” Alamgir said, noting the POS provider. “We want to go ahead and remove the fragmentation from the space. … We’re telling operators to use Lunchbox as their innovation hub or even the operating system that you can expand on top of.”

Alamgir mengatakan bahwa etalase digital bukan hanya tentang memiliki situs web tempat pelanggan dapat melihat menu statis, memesan makanan, atau mendapatkan kupon diskon 20%; harus lebih dari itu untuk menjadi lebih interaktif dan memamerkan branding restoran, terutama untuk restoran virtual yang tidak memiliki etalase fisik.

“If you are launching five wing concepts from one kitchen, that doesn't make you special,” he said. “What makes you special is launching actual brands that matter. Why are we not putting the same capital effort and resources into launching virtual brands?”

Alamgir thinks that restaurants’ digital branding is just getting started, and that they’re still in the dark ages of being focused on basic functionality.

“Tidak bisa hanya tentang memesan makanan,” katanya. “Ini tentang memperluas budaya dan merek Anda. … Kami akan mengizinkan Anda melakukan itu dan terus melakukannya saat kami pindah ke dunia digital baru di luar lokasi.”