Branded Mobile App

[Sdaniel]

Hi everyone,

W seem to encounter issues each time the branded mobile app is updated. Typically, when a problem arises, I open a case, it gets escalated to engineering, and it’s resolved, but with each new update, something else disrupts the customer ordering experience.

I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced the following issues, and if so, how you addressed them?

Curbside: While this doesn’t affect all customers, we have a significant number of orders placed via the app where customers select “curbside.” The issue is that “curbside” only appears as part of the tab name; the system does not process these as curbside orders. As a result, guests do not receive curbside communication, and on our end, the dining option is not curbside. I've had this case open for over two months now, and there's still no solution. This issue was first flagged by our secret shopper company, and initially we thought the shoppers were ordering incorrectly. However, we now see that this is happening with regular customers as well. 

Rewards: We’ve had issues with rewards in the app in the past. The most recent issue is that the rewards dollar amount displayed at checkout is incorrect, it shows less than what is actually available for the customer. However, when the reward is applied (before payment), the correct amount is reflected as the discount. While the correct amount applies, it is confusing for the customer to see less than what is available to redeem. This was also flagged by our secret shopper company, however in looking into this, there is definitely a glitch happening. I should emphasize that we don't have a redemption limit. And this is not an issue when ordering via the website. 

Example with my account:

Actual rewards available for redemption:

The $ amount that appears on the checkout page:

Correct amount discounted when $1 off is selected in the picture above:

[Sdaniel · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone!

We met with Toast today, and they’ve identified the cause of the rewards issue. A fix is currently being implemented and is expected to be fully resolved within the next 2–3 weeks. This should correct the incorrect rewards dollar amounts that were appearing at checkout. 

[Tinku_S]

We have seen several issues with the Branded Mobile App:

• Ordering for curbside through the mobile app does not require the guest add their vehicle information, and if they don't do that, the orders are send to Toast POS as in-store pickup orders. We use a company called FlyBuy to manage communications/track in-store and curbside pickup orders and were able to get them to create a work around for now, while Toast works on requiring the vehicle details, just as it does for online ordering. Our Toast CSM said Toast has acknowledged this is an issue but there is currently no timeline for a fix.
• We have also noted the the issue with rewards that Sdaniel noted and on top of that. We had to turn off the cash rewards for our loyalty program since it was showing guests in the mobile app the wrong cash back total based on the points they have.
• Lastly, we have noticed that we are not able to do an offer for just the Local by Toast App to attract new customers, because anything we create on Local by Toast, also displays prominently on the Branded Mobile App, which is not ideal since we don't want to be offering things indiscriminately to customers that have already made the decision to order from us without knowing that discount was available.

Tinku Saini, Tarka Indian Kitchen

[Sdaniel]

Hi @Tinku_S! 

The first issue you mentioned regarding vehicle information not being required will be resolved in the next minor update. The agent handling my case has ensured that the concerns I raised were properly addressed. They confirmed that the necessary coding changes have now been implemented, and vehicle information will be required once the upcoming minor update is released.

The loyalty issues we were experiencing have now been resolved. The correct reward amount is displayed, and customers can retract their rewards if they decide not to use the amount before placing their order. 

Hopefully more positive changes to come in the future! 🙂

[Tinku_S]

@Sdaniel For the cash rewards, have you also noticed the issue at the POS that if there are no items yet added to the order, and the guest enters their rewards number, that it latches on to cash rewards only rather than presenting both the cash and item-level rewards? That is another reason we turned off cash rewards, since for guests that wanted to use an item-level reward instead, we had to remove the cash reward before it would allows us to apply item-level rewards.

[Sdaniel]

I hadn’t noticed that before, but it could be because we currently only have cash rewards activated. Since item level rewards aren’t enabled, we're only seeing the cash reward available. What I was able to find is this: "Item rewards only show up when qualifying items are added to the cart first. The reward appears in the same place where cashback rewards normally show, but you need the eligible item in the order before the redemption option becomes available. So, it's either cash rewards OR item rewards, not both at the same time."  I am not certain if that's entirely accurate.