DIGITAL

one that would fit our needs exactly. We wanted a model
that was totally self-contained, meaning our franchisees
could safely store and serve our Italian Ice and Gelato and
be approved by local health departments. By doing this,
franchisees are able to sell longer before heading back to
their business’ home base to re-stock and clean up.
When considering your business’ POS flow, it’s important
to think about ways to make the process of serving customers
convenient and streamlined. The food truck we selected allows
up to four employees to work comfortably inside. Because
our truck operators are having a blast serving customers at
concerts and community festivals, the fun atmosphere may
be too loud for employees to shout orders back and forth.
So, we can use video monitor ordering screens to help ensure
accuracy and minimize customer wait time. Outdoor menu
screens on the side of the food truck can be changed as
needed to show updated flavors and prices, as well as serving
as a rolling message center.
HELPING CUSTOMERS FIND YOU
The beauty and the challenge of having a food truck
business model is its mobility. Without brick and mortar, you
are free to take your products to wherever your customers
are, evolving with geographical and event-based demand.
But your constantly changing location can make it difficult for
new or returning customers to find you.
We have partnered with an SMS-based marketing service
and a schedule-posting, web-integrated service to help us
overcome this obstacle. By empowering franchisees to collect
customers’ contact information, they are able to create a
database of loyal followers, while keeping fans updated on
new product promotions, coupons and, of course, where
food trucks will be and when. Messages are sent out via short
texts, with the possibility of linking to our corporate websites
or microsites built for specific products or events.
Our schedule-posting, web-integrated service creates
a more efficient process for franchisees to announce where
they will be and when across all their digital platforms.
Initially, we tried to get weekly schedules posted to our
corporate websites by manual entry, but the process was
time-consuming. By November, we will have launched the
system that allows franchisees to post their schedules once
and populate websites and social media simultaneously.
PRODUCT ADDITIONS TO BOOST YEAR-ROUND
SALES
While the amount of possible selling venues seems
endless during the spring and summer, it is challenging to
maintain volumes during the colder months. As a franchisor,
we are working to meet these challenges by expanding
our menu of Real Italian products during this fall to include
hot beverages and an authentic, hot Italian sandwich. Hot
chocolate and freshly-brewed Italian coffee are already on
the menu in some Repicci’s locations, and other products are
in the developmental stage.
REPICCI’S ALWAYS LOOKS TO THE FUTURE
We will continue to discover new challenges to overcome
as we continue unrolling (pun intended) our food truck model.
Just as Dominic Francesco Repicci learned to adapt to a new
country during the Industrial Revolution, Repicci’s Real Italian
& Gelato is adapting to a new marketing structure based on
wheels.
Frank Repicci is CEO and a franchise owner of
Repicci’s Italian Ice & Gelato. Find him at
fransocial.franchise.org
FRANCHISING WORLD NOVEMBER 2015 67