Spawned from Yod Chinsupagon’s enjoyment of seeing what other people eat, the first Wongnai app was launched in July 2010. After he graduated from university in America, he had the idea of creating an app which allowed people to find and review various kinds of food all over cities. To create the project, he got three other friends on-board, Patarawut Suasutayasib (CTO), Suparat Kritiyakien (architect) and Wonwee Sudayawenit (product manager). The four of them have been working together on Wongnai ever since.
The right product, with the right team, at the right time
Looking back to the early stages of Wongnai, it was not all so easy. There were few marketing opportunities for start-up businesses, and there were significantly fewer internet users than there are today.
Yod recalls: “We learnt so much. When we started 6-7 years ago, few people used the internet and there were very few smartphones. We were still using 2G, which was very inconvenient. Facebook was only just becoming popular and few people were open to new services and ideas, such as apps.”
The fact that Wongnai went through this difficult time demonstrates the important lessons the team was able to learn, such as perseverance, when to wait, when to push forward, and when to pull back. They also learnt that even when it is not yet the right time, that day will eventually come. Nowadays if you are talking about food-related apps, there would be few people in Thailand who wouldn’t mention Wongnai, which now has over 8 million users.
Start-up equation 1 + 1 > 2
In the past, Wongnai was always a consumer product business. However, Wongnai has now decided to serve the business community by investigating what products every restaurant might need and how they can raise their game to meet the new standards of the digital age.
For example, when entering a restaurant, you will often find the payment equipment at the counter, being either a computer or basic till. This is known as the Point of Sale. This Point of Sale is a product Wongnai sees as being in need of disruption, from being a simple till solely designed to record money taken, to being a product that links the online and offline world of a restaurant, with various extra features that will provide extra advantages to restaurateur businesses, such as marketing opportunities and the ability to receive orders made off the premises.
At the same time, FoodStory, which was featured in ‘Startup Scale Up EP.6: Fail Fast, Learn Faster’, had the same vision as Wongnai. The difference was that they already had over 5 years’ experience of improving POS systems. Through trial and error, they had developed a formula that would be successful, and would be a beneficial product for small, medium and large restaurants. They also had a strong team behind them, particularly the co-founders who were dedicated and hard-working, with intimate knowledge of the market.
While Wongnai has expert knowledge of working with consumers, FoodStory has experience of working with restauranteur businesses. And while both companies have different skillsets, the basic premise of each company is the same, which is to ‘connect people to good stuff’. The combination of Wongnai and FoodStory has led to the first perfect restaurant management system in Thailand, all thanks to the creation of the Wongnai POS by FoodStory product.
A closer look at the capabilities of Wongnai POS by FoodStory
With both Wongnai and FoodStory looking to connect consumers with restaurants, the two companies have come together to develop the features of Wongnai POS by FoodStory, which combines every beneficial service together. Whether it’s for convenience or modernism, every feature brings its own benefit to both the consumer and the business-owner. The key features are:
- The POS can connect to the Wongnai restaurant information in order to alter the information held there, such as the menu or the opening times, all from the POS. The POS then manages everything in the restaurant, and all the data is automatically updated onto customers’ smartphones, meaning that the restaurant owner doesn’t have to constantly correct second-hand information. Not only is this more convenient for the restaurant, but it also eliminates second-hand information being entered which can cause confusion and dissatisfaction for customers.
- The Food Delivery Notification from the Wongnai app is linked to the POS. This means that when a customer orders through Wongnai, a notification appears on the POS immediately. It also allows for the restaurant to see all of the orders as well as the statistics of all the delivery orders.
- 1. It allows for more methods of payment, such as Dynamic QR Code payment, which shows the cost of the food and enables customers to scan and pay instantly using their mobiles. This makes the whole dining process more convenient for the customer.
This is just the first step. The partnership between Wongnai and FoodStory will continue to develop additional features to improve the quality of other restaurant services, such as reservations, takeaways, customer relations and loyalty programs, all of which will be available in the upcoming version.
When everybody wins
This partnership not only benefits traders but is also advantageous for consumers.
“We are certain that if we can make restaurants happy and ourselves happy, then the happiness will also be transferred over to the customers,” explained Yod, the CEO of Wongnai.
The partnership between these two start-ups allows every restaurant to connect with its users as much as possible. This enables the restaurant owners to manage their businesses as effectively as possible, from increasing the opportunity for sales to raising their exposure to different customer groups.
The partnership means that customers enjoy more convenient and faster interactions with the business, leaving both parties more satisfied overall with the Wongnai POS by FoodStory, which restaurants can use for free.
This is just another step in the direction of the successful journey of FoodStory (AIS The StartUp) and Wongnai. For any creative businesspersons or entrepreneurs in the digital world who have a dream they wish to turn into reality, you can send your portfolio for consideration at www.ais.th/thestartup
