The eCommerce Pivot (Podcast)

How eCommerce can be a pivotal tool for restaurants was the topic of The Main Course as host Barbara Castiglia spoke with expert David Rusenko, Head of eCommerce for Square.

“In many ways, the pandemic brought us further into the future, faster,” said Rusenko. When San Francisco issued its first shelter in place mandate, Square was quick to help businesses pivot and rewrite their roadmaps. Rusenko said that within 48 hours, restaurants were able to offer curbside delivery, and within a week, delivery functionality.

Square instituted a full online platform that allows restaurants to have a direct channel to accept orders and transactions online, without paying commissions on the third-party marketplace. It also created a self-serve QR-ordering system that allows customers to split tabs, order their meals, and perhaps another cocktail, all from their phones. In short, these platforms ramped up restaurants’ overall efficiency while attracting customers, creating new experiences, and growing businesses. 

“The steady drumbeat of the restaurant industry was that they needed to adapt,” he said. “The industry was faced with a dire situation. We wanted to be there and support them as quickly as possible."

A new episode of The Main Course, our podcast series with MarketScale, is served up every Tuesday and Thursday.