ChowNow Adds SMS, Catering & QR Tools for Independents

Independent restaurants using ChowNow are getting a broader toolkit to recapture revenue lost to third-party delivery marketplaces, as the Los Angeles-based platform rolls out upgrades across its Ordering, Marketing, and Operations suites. The update adds SMS campaign capability, a dedicated catering ordering channel, and QR code dine-in ordering — all designed to route customer data and transaction value back to the operator rather than to aggregator platforms charging 25 to 30% per order.

The timing is deliberate. The National Restaurant Association reports wholesale food prices have climbed 35% since February 2020, and a third of operators said their business was not profitable in the first half of 2026. For the roughly 400,000 independent restaurants running on razor-thin margins, every commission point ceded to a marketplace compounds an already difficult cost structure — a dynamic that maps directly onto the pressures facing foodservice programs inside convenience stores, where operators weigh similar build-versus-buy decisions on digital ordering infrastructure.

The New Capabilities

The Marketing Suite expansion is the most visible change. SMS joins email, loyalty, and customer data tools under a single automation layer; once campaigns are configured, they run without manual intervention. Operators can also upload existing contact lists to extend reach beyond ChowNow's native audience — a capability that matters most for high-volume independents building their own loyalty base outside third-party apps.

The Catering module gives restaurants a branded direct-ordering experience for large-ticket orders, with dedicated menus, flexible scheduling, and order management built in. ChowNow models the savings at more than $4,300 annually for a restaurant running 10 catering orders per month at a $360 average order value, compared with a 15% marketplace commission. Real Mediterranean Kitchen, which added ChowNow Catering in late 2025, generated more than $80,000 across 130-plus catering orders in roughly a year — demonstrating that direct digital infrastructure can open a revenue tier well above typical takeout ticket sizes.

QR Code Ordering for dine-in rounds out the update. ChowNow's internal data shows restaurants using the feature average a 9% lift in check size, and each scan captures diner data the restaurant owns outright for future marketing. DJ's Pizza, which launched its first ChowNow email and SMS campaign in May 2026, has since logged 542 orders and more than $32,700 in direct sales from those campaigns alone.

What Operators Should Watch

"Our goal is to make sure restaurants can capture more of that value directly and build a real relationship with their customers along the way," said Kanika Soni, CEO of ChowNow. The platform, trusted by more than 15,000 restaurants nationwide, claims to have saved independent operators $1.36 billion in aggregate commission fees since 2011 — an average of $16,000 per restaurant per year versus third-party marketplace rates.

For c-store operators running or expanding foodservice programs, ChowNow's model is a useful benchmark. The same commission-avoidance logic applies when evaluating whether to build a proprietary app-based ordering flow or rely on aggregator integrations that extract margin on every transaction. As loyalty and digital ordering become table stakes across the channel, the ability to own customer data — not just facilitate a transaction — is increasingly the differentiating asset.

ChowNow says the current platform update also lays groundwork for AI-powered restaurant tools slated for Q4 2026, though no product specifics were disclosed.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.