Build vs buy

FastFoodShop vs building in-house

A fast food chain with a strong IT team can build its own ordering. The question is what it takes: a web shop, an app and a kiosk, all feeding the POS, with menus, upsell and loyalty on top. Here is what that involves and what the alternative has delivered.

The short version

Build in-house if

•Digital ordering is the thing that sets your chain apart, and you want to own every line of it.
•You have a product and engineering team that will stay on it for years, not just for the launch.
•You need something FastFoodShop does not do and will not do for you.

Choose FastFoodShop if

✓You want web, app and kiosk running from one platform, with orders going straight into your POS.
✓You want to launch in months. Carl's Jr. Denmark had a POS-integrated app in 3.5 months.
✓You would rather spend your IT team on your POS, payments and loyalty integrations than on an ordering platform.
✓You want a platform that already runs other chains, in several countries.

Side by side

What you get on day one, and who carries it after.

What matters	Build in-house	FastFoodShop
Time to the first channel	Depends on your team, your scope and your POS integration.	Carl's Jr. Denmark: a pre-order and pay app integrated with its POS in 3.5 months, as reported in the case.
Channels	Each one is a project: web shop, iOS and Android app, kiosk.	Web, app and kiosk from one platform. A product added in one central place shows in every channel.
POS integration	You design how a configured meal, a removal and a deposit reach the kitchen.	Orders land in the POS structured as the kitchen needs them, with a short order number.
Meal deals	You build the configurator: swaps, surcharges, add-ons, removals, deposits.	Meal deals with swappable components, paid upgrades, add-ons and removals, and "upgrade to a menu" in the basket.
Upsell and loyalty	Separate projects, often after launch.	Upsell rules and AI recommendations, points, punch cards, vouchers and a paid subscription.
More countries	New currencies, languages, payment methods and receipt rules for each market.	One chain across countries and currencies, with a country switch in the shop. Sunset Boulevard runs this way.
Upkeep	Your team: app store releases, kiosk hardware, payment changes, security fixes.	Cloud based, with one code base for every chain on it.

FastFoodShop figures are as reported in the customer cases on sprintingretail.com.

How fast chains launched on FastFoodShop

Two Danish chains, both reported in their own words.

Carl's Jr. Denmark

3.5 months

"Sprinting Retail has delivered a preorder & pay app integrated with our POS system in only 3.5 months." Tina Petersen, Supply & Brand Manager.

Sunset Boulevard

App first

The plan was kiosk, then app. When the Covid-19 lockdown came, "in no time Sprinting Retail launched the ordering app instead of the kiosk, so we could offer digital ordering and curb side pick-up." When the kiosk pilot opened, 60% of in-restaurant guests used it on the first day.

The Sunset Boulevard app and self-service kiosk

Both chains got this speed from a platform that already existed. The work was configuring it for them and connecting it to their POS, not writing it from scratch.

What you would be building

A fast food ordering platform is more than a menu and a pay button. This is what FastFoodShop handles today.

Meal deals that make sense to the kitchen

A menu opens as components. Each can be swapped, upgrades carry a surcharge, the bottle deposit is its own line. All of it has to reach the POS in a form the kitchen can read.

Ordering minutes ahead

The guest picks a restaurant, an order type and a pickup time, by default the earliest slot. Opening hours, temporary closures and sold-out items per restaurant all apply.

The kiosk

Payment terminal flow, login by scanning a QR code from the app, receipts that recruit loyalty members, an allergen bar on screen, remote restart.

Upsell

Suggestions on the product, in the catalogue and in the basket, set by restaurant, weekday and date. AI recommendations tested with A/B experiments.

Loyalty

Points, punch cards, vouchers, a free meal on sign-up, milestone rewards, and a paid subscription in tiers like SunsetPLUS.

Running a chain

Per-restaurant products and prices, deals by time, channel and order type, several countries and currencies, an audit log and feeds to your BI.

When building in-house is the right call

Sometimes it is. Be honest with yourself about which case you are in.

•Ordering is your product. If the digital experience is what sets you apart and you plan to keep investing in it for years, owning the code can be worth the cost.
•You have the team already. Product, design, app, kiosk and back-end people who will stay on it after launch, not a project team that moves on.

If none of these fit, building means spending years and a team on a platform that already exists, to end up where Carl's Jr. was after 3.5 months.

Which to pick

If your chain wants its own web shop, app and kiosk, connected to the POS, with upsell and loyalty, FastFoodShop gives you that on a platform that already runs Sunset Boulevard and Carl's Jr. Denmark.

Your own team still matters. Point it at the POS, payment and loyalty integrations, and at the decisions about menus and offers. That is where it adds value no platform can.

If ordering is your product and you have a team to match, build. We would rather tell you that than sell you something you will replace.

Frequently asked questions

What chains ask when they weigh building against buying.

How long does a launch take?+

It depends on your channels and your POS. Carl's Jr. Denmark had a pre-order and pay app integrated with its POS in 3.5 months, as reported in its case.

Will it look like our brand, or like a template?+

Your brand. Own branding is part of the standard platform, and in the words of the Carl's Jr. case, the platform has "powerful technology for creating a fully tailored frontend for each individual company".

Can our IT team integrate it with our systems?+

Yes. The platform has open integration interfaces to ERP, POS and more. Your POS integration is where your team's knowledge matters most.

Who else runs on it?+

Sunset Boulevard and Carl's Jr. Denmark in fast food. In catering mode, the same platform runs Bilka, føtex and Smag Salling. It is multi-tenant, with one code base for every chain.

What if we need something it does not do?+

The user flow and the up- and cross-selling flow can be tailored per chain. Sunset Boulevard picked Sprinting Retail for its agile approach and short development cycles. Tell us what you need and we will tell you plainly whether it fits.

What does it cost?+

Fast food pricing is not published. Tell us how many restaurants you have and which channels you want, and we will come back with a figure.