Helping Pizza Hut’s revenue rise through an innovative food service and data platform

The IMC Group (International Meal Company) is one of the largest food service companies in Brazil and a leader in the sector, managing a total network of more than 560 restaurants and 11,000 employees (5,000 in Brazil). As the owner and master franchisor of world-renowned brands such as Pizza Hut, KFC and Margaritaville, IMC has a powerful presence and influence in the segment in countries such as Brazil, Colombia and the USA.

Appetite for digital evolution

As the trend of ordering food for delivery and enjoying meals at home continues to rise among consumers, restaurants that depend on third-party marketplaces to serve their customers struggle with eroding profit margins and the distance it puts between them and their consumer. 

To optimize its business operations and boost profitability, the IMC Group recognized the need for a more tailored digital sales strategy. They aimed to go beyond the marketplace's constraints by building closer relationships with customers through personalized experiences, increasing sales and retaining a larger share of revenue. To help achieve its vision of becoming the leading food platform in the country, the company teamed up with Thoughtworks for this initiative.

Recipe for success

Thoughtworks started with a Digital Fluency Assessment last year to understand IMC's desired destination and the necessary steps to reach it. This involved crafting a business model supported by relevant cases, and developing a transformation roadmap outlining the path to achieve IMC’s objectives. With this in mind, the IMC Group set out to develop a mobile app for Pizza Hut. In just four months, a functional digital platform was created, launched with a strong emphasis on the consumer experience. 

Following this, IMC entered a phase of application discovery, identifying market suitability, customer profiles and service plans, through an analysis that covered various facets of the business - from its organizational structure to the data-driven user experience. This comprehensive approach provided, for example, a deeper understanding of the end-to-end pizza-making process and experience, consumer profiles and behaviors, and the strategic direction for promotion and customer interaction.

Through this discovery phase, IMC's digital team became even more integrated with the rest of the company, promoting collaboration and the inclusion of various teams in the decision-making process. Transitioning from discovery to delivery, Thoughtworks developed an IMC food services platform to support the creation of all digital products aligned with IMC’s market strategy across its brand offerings. 

A transformation office was also established, equipped with a strategic framework and governance structure to ensure value delivery throughout the transformation journey and assist in hiring digital experts. Finally, we conducted an assessment to ensure data accessibility, identify vulnerabilities and devise quick-win solutions, aiding IMC Group to prioritize efforts and raising the quality of its data.

Fresh out of the oven

Pizza Hut’s application enables a seamless customer journey for users, keeping them in direct contact with the brand from start to finish. Owning the full digital experience gives Pizza Hut access to valuable customer data, enhancing their understanding of consumption patterns and allowing them to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to tailor the food delivery experience. Moreover, it enhances store operations, rendering them more dynamic, intelligent and strategic by supporting ‘last-mile’ concepts and recommendations through machine learning (ML).

What's next?

The food service platform is much more than an app; it's an end-to-end solution that IMC Group intends to utilize and white label for a variety of other brands in its portfolio. The platform empowers IMC to innovate, build new digital products and expand its reach.

In continued partnership, Thoughtworks remains dedicated to delivering digital solutions that propel the company upwards, ensuring success in the dynamic food service landscape.