San Francisco, CA, May 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Simple, the digital restaurant marketplace that brings together food service buyers and sellers, is entering the next stage of its national rollout following rapid adoption in its two initial markets. Today, nearly 4,000 restaurant operators, distributors, and other suppliers in the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan markets rely on Simple to more efficiently buy and sell goods. In Q2 2018, Simple is expanding into several additional markets across the United States, including California, Florida, Nevada, New York, and Virginia.
Simple was launched in 2017 to bring down the traditional barriers between restaurants and the range of sellers they rely on—from distributors and suppliers to farmers and gourmet food producers. It was founded by Dan McMurtrie, who previously served as president and CEO of the Bullets Corporation restaurant chain. The concept restaurant won the Hot Concepts Award in 1997 from Nation’s Restaurant News, and McMurtrie was recognized as one of the “7 Hottest Restaurateurs under 30” by Restaurant Business magazine.
For restaurants, the Simple marketplace provides Amazon-like simplicity with a single dashboard, simplified price-checking process, and one-click ordering for food, beer, wine, liquor and supplies. Meanwhile, built-in analytics monitor pricing trends, track how costs fluctuate over time, and help restaurants control expenses. As a result, restaurant managers and chefs can save 20-plus hours each month and tens of thousands of dollars a year—at no cost for using the Simple marketplace.
For distributors and other sellers, Simple delivers a digital platform to grow existing accounts and connect instantly with restaurant operators seeking new suppliers. Using Simple, sellers can open a digital storefront to promote their products and directly offer discounts, rebates, specials, and samples to restaurants 24x7. Additionally, automated tools let suppliers see customers’ whole orders and provide quotes on products they are buying elsewhere, as well as find hot sales leads and send quotes in minutes.
“Having owned a restaurant chain with 70 locations, I saw first-hand the challenges of maintaining an outdated sales model between operators and distributors,” said Dan McMurtrie, Simple founder and CEO. “On the one hand, restaurants were ordering food, beverages, and other supplies from 15 or more vendors while trying to manage dynamic pricing models. On the other, distributors had very limited time to connect with operators, much less understand where they would be interested in additional products. Those challenges were the inspiration for creating Simple, a central digital marketplace for connecting restaurant operators and suppliers and empowering them to cut costs, simplify their operations, and improve efficiency.”
Early Users Praise Simple Marketplace
Today, Simple supports a range of popular restaurant operators. These include Buck Bradley’s, Frontera Grill, Gibsons Restaurant Group, Milwaukee Marriott, Parker Restaurant Group, and Tavern at the Park in the Chicago and Milwaukee markets, and more recently Red Salt, Kuba Kuba, and Home Team Grill in the Richmond, VA area, among many others. Additionally, Simple is partnering with major regional distributors and suppliers, such as Badger Liquors, Louis Glunz Wines, H2Vino, and Maverick Wine Company. Already, these businesses are reporting significant efficiencies in how they manage their purchases and sales, respectively.
“Simple provides Gibsons the ability to request price quotes from existing and new vendors, saving us valuable time and giving us the peace of mind we are buying the right product at the right price,” said Greg Horan, director of operations and managing director of Gibsons Restaurant Group.
“As a distributor, having better insights into our customers is invaluable in helping drive our salesforce effectiveness, sales reach, and customer success. Simple's unique 360-degree view of the operators we serve allows us to deliver personalized selling experiences that improve customer satisfaction,” said John Boulahanis, executive vice president of Badger Liquor Company. “At the same time, operators who use Simple are seeing the transformational benefits of being able to order everything in one click across their vendors any time of day, saving them valuable time and money. That’s important because our customers’ success helps drive our success.”
About Simple
Simple is the first digital restaurant marketplace that brings food service buyers and sellers together to save time and cut costs by simplifying purchase order and sales quote processes, all in one place. Just as Amazon created a new model for buying, selling and marketing consumer products online, Simple is delivering an online platform that connects restaurants and the range of sellers they rely on—from distributors and suppliers to farmers and gourmet food producers. With instant, 24x7 access and deeper insights, restaurants and suppliers alike are empowered to run smarter, better businesses. To learn more, visit https://www.simple123.com.