Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
When Chris Sommers opened the first Pi location just four years ago, in 2008, the iPad was two years away and Twitter had just surpassed a million users.
Today, Pi has more than a half-dozen locations nationwide, and the evolution of technology has entirely altered the way it does business.
“The Internet and social media are the 21st-century comment card,” Sommers says. “Technology gives me a lot of visibility as to what’s going on in my restaurants and helps us see what our customers are saying. I can communicate with my staff, I can see real-time what’s going on, I can see sales, and I can physically watch what’s going on via cameras from the store, all on my iPhone.”
In 2009, another St. Louisan, Third Degree Glass Factory owner Jim McKelvey, was unable to complete a sale because he couldn’t accept a credit card. McKelvey shared his predicament with friend and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who collaborated with him to create Square, one of the most game-changing mobile apps of the past two years. With a Square card reader and an Android or iOS device, restaurateurs like Sommers can easily accept payments on the go, at places like Pi’s food trucks in St. Louis and D.C.
Tech is also making shopping a better experience. Retailers like Nordstrom are taking cues from Apple’s stores, where employees with iOS devices ring up your purchase. Now, instead of waiting in line, shoppers at the Saint Louis Galleria Nordstrom can check out on iPads right outside the dressing room, eliminating wait time.
Social networking through Twitter and Facebook has also made it easier for companies to engage with customers and provide perks. “Social business” company Dachis Group has used Twitter and e-newsletters to invite the public to its monthly Visual Thinking School sessions. And local ad firm Moosylvania shares its work with more than a thousand followers on Twitter. Having a presence in these online “third places” (spaces outside of home and work) has become almost crucial to a business’s success.
“Guests often don’t tell you the good and bad about their experience to your face anymore or on paper,” Sommers says. “They’re talking about it to their social networks. Instead of one-to-one communication at the water cooler…they’re telling several hundred, several thousand people about it. We want to be able to either nip that in the bud or to take advantage of it and engage them.”
