Dickey's Barbecue Pit Combines 7 Decades of Restaurant Experience with Forward Thinking Technology

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has been slow-smoking barbecue for its passionate guests since 1941. That’s when the brand opened its first location in Dallas, Texas, allowing founder Travis Dickey to share his family’s barbecue recipe with his community. Travis and his wife, Miss Ollie, built and curated a brand that focused on food that always satisfies guests.

Travis and Miss Ollie passed the torch to their sons Roland and T. D. Dickey in 1967. But the family tradition of slow-smoked barbecue remained at the core of Dickey’s operation. The brand turned to franchising in 1994 and their growth and expansion really began to heat up. Today, under the leadership of the third generation of Roland Dickey Jr. and his wife Laura Rea Dickey, the Dickey’s brand has expanded to more than 500 locations nationwide and their first international locations are set to open later this year.

Roland and Laura Rea remain dedicated to the true age-old traditions of the company yet still understand the importance of evolving with industry trends. That means turning to technology as an integral way of ensuring a growing, successful business, especially in the restaurant industry. Laura’s background in Information Technology, she once served as the CIO of Dickey’s, means she understands what technology can do for the brand. She has helped develop and implement forward-thinking initiatives to make Dickey’s a technology leader in the restaurant industry.

One way to stay competitive in today’s market is to gather and analyze guest data. Dickey’s does this with the help of its own in-house data warehousing system known as SmokeStack. Dickey’s SmokeStack houses everything from sales information to sentiment reports from each Dickey’s location nationwide, allowing owners to be more efficient and understand key information that helps them serve their guests better.

Earlier this year, Dickey’s introduced its own mobile app that allows guests to easily order for delivery or carry-out and earn rewards along the way. The Dickey’s team understands customers want fast simple ways to make purchases and the Dickey’s App offers just that.

Dickey’s is also focused on developing in-store technology enhancements that create an even better system for Dickey’s Pit Crew members. Barbecue smeared screens will soon be a thing of the past as the brand incorporates Voice Enabled Technology in its stores. Dickey’s has partnered with iOLAP, a big-data and advanced-analytics consultant group, and is currently testing Amazon’s Alexa to carry out key business functions such as calculating sales figures, keeping up with inventory, and even timing how much longer the brisket has in the smoker.

Dickey’s has been able to combine 77 years of family-owned successful restaurant experience with innovative forward-thinking technology that bring the best, and most delicious, restaurant experience to barbecue lovers across the world.

For more information on franchising with Dickey’s, visit https://www.dickeys.com/franchise.

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