CHOWNOW EXPANDS ITS PLATFORM TO HELP INDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS KEEP MORE OF WHAT THEY EARN

New Ordering, Marketing, and Operations Tools to Help Restaurants Thrive in an Industry Built on Razor-Thin Margins

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Independent restaurants are working harder than ever to attract diners and grow revenue, but too often, the customer relationship and a meaningful share of the revenue end up with third-party platforms instead. ChowNow, the restaurant growth platform, recently announced updates across its three product suites, Ordering, Marketing, and Operations, designed to put restaurants back in control of their orders, their data, and their diners.

Over 400,000 independent restaurants in the U.S. are already running on razor-thin margins as food, labor, and operational costs rise. According to the National Restaurant Association, wholesale food prices are up 35% since February 2020, and a third of operators said their business was not profitable in the first half of 2026. Third-party delivery platforms compound the problem, charging as much as 25 to 30% per order.

"Every guest a restaurant serves and every order it fulfills is value that the restaurant has earned," said Kanika Soni, CEO of ChowNow. "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. ChowNow gives restaurants the technology, data, and tools to do exactly that: attract diners, turn them into repeat guest, and grow revenue on their own terms."

ChowNow's update strengthens all three suites, bringing online ordering, catering, QR code ordering, and marketing together into a single operating system that helps restaurants scale their direct revenue and deepen guest relationships, while running their business with less complexity along the way.

What's new:

• Marketing Suite - now includes SMS alongside email, loyalty, and customer data tools, all backed by automation, so campaigns run themselves once they're set up. Restaurants can also launch their own custom email and SMS campaigns on demand and reach a larger audience by uploading their existing contact lists, giving them full control over when and how they reach diners.
• Catering - gives restaurants a direct, branded online ordering experience for high-ticket orders, with dedicated menus, flexible scheduling, and streamlined order management, all while capturing the customer data that comes with it for future marketing. A restaurant running 10 catering orders a month at a $360 average order value could save more than $4,300 a year with ChowNow's catering rate versus a 15% marketplace commission.
• QR Code Ordering - for dine-in guests speeds up ordering and payment while capturing valuable diner data restaurants can use to drive targeted marketing and repeat visits. ChowNow data shows restaurants using QR code ordering see a 9% average increase in check size. 

Restaurants powered by ChowNow are already seeing results. Since sending its first campaign in May 2026, DJ's Pizza has generated 542 orders and more than $32,700 in direct sales from its ChowNow email and SMS campaigns. And since adding ChowNow Catering in late 2025, Real Mediterranean Kitchen has generated over $80,000 across more than 130 catering orders, demonstrating how restaurants can use direct digital tools to expand beyond individual takeout orders and capture larger ticket demand.

The update also lays the groundwork for ChowNow's next generation of AI-powered restaurant tools, launching in Q4 2026.

For more information on ChowNow, please visit www.chownow.com.

About ChowNow
Trusted by more than 15,000 restaurants nationwide, ChowNow is the restaurant growth platform, offered in three packages, Launch, Grow, and Elevate, that helps independent restaurants attract diners, grow revenue, and own their customer relationships. ChowNow gives restaurants the technology and tools to capture more value from every order and every guest. Since 2011, ChowNow has helped independent restaurants save $1.36 billion in commission fees, an average of $16,000 per restaurant per year compared to third-party marketplaces.

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SOURCE ChowNow