A fast-growing beverage chain boosts its IT processes to support high-speed expansion.
Transitioned from point solutions to one-stop-shop IT support
Jumpstarted the new store opening process
Freed up time and resources to focus on strategic IT initiatives
The Challenge: Scaling IT for a rapidly growing beverage brand
Customers love HTeaO. And how could you blame them? The chain of 143 locations offers 20+ meticulously crafted flavors tea, a proprietary water filtration system, and natural ingredients.
To quench this growing thirst, HTeaO—recognized by Inc. as one of the fastest-growing companies in the southern US—continues to open new locations. However, supporting the brand’s growing IT footprint is a constant challenge.
HTeaO welcomed Michael Stoddard to help lead the company into its next era. Prior to Stoddard joining, HTeaO’s restaurants relied on point solutions: the POS provider offered POS support, digital signage issues were funneled to the manufacturer, and a third party provided network support. The first item on Stoddard’s list: get IT support under control to support HTeaO’s employees and franchisees.
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Born in Texas in 2009, HTeaO is the nation’s leading iced tea brand. The company offers a range of ultra-premium tea, water, and coffee products and caters to customers both in-store and through convenient drive-thru services. HTeaO operates 143 locations (and counting!) across the southern United States.
The Solution: Consolidating IT support under one roof
Stoddard saw that these disparate solutions added administrative load to each location. Store employees were chasing down support phone numbers in a giant book instead of spending more time with customers. Partnering with the team at Science On Call gave HTeaO’s employees a single point of contact for any piece of technology that affects their store.
"The support team members mostly all have restaurant experience. They know what it feels like to be standing at a counter, looking at a line of customers staring at you while you try to fix something. That empathy goes a long way."
Michael Stoddard, VP of IT, HTeaO
"The support team members mostly all have restaurant experience. They know what it feels like to be standing at a counter, looking at a line of customers staring at you while you try to fix something. That empathy goes a long way." Michael Stoddard, VP of IT, HTeaO
By the Numbers
Onboarding completed in four weeks
Satisfaction score of 97.3%
Average reply time reduced from 19 hours to 22 minutes
Augmenting the new store opening process
Each HTeaO store utilizes a robust tech stack that includes POS, KDS, online ordering, third-party delivery, digital signage, and digital music technology.
Opening a new store–and getting all its systems off the ground—can be a complex process.Stoddard tasked Science On Call to act as a liaison between franchisees and their technology vendors. SOC’s restaurant technologists were able to accelerate the onboarding process and help get locations up and running faster.
Transitioning corporate IT support to SOC
HTeaO’s corporate offices provide valuable strategy and resources to fuel the brand’s expansion efforts. And they have IT needs too!
Stoddard opted to move HTeaO’s corporate support under the Science On Call umbrella. SOC’s technologists now oversee laptops, printers, networks, home office setups, and application support.
This continues HTeaO’s consolidation of IT support under a single vendor.
“Typically, nobody really likes their help desk in this industry. But right now, everybody on our team loves Science On Call. It’s been one of the best initiatives we’ve rolled out this year.”
Moving Forward…
With IT support in SOC’s trustworthy hands, Stoddard and the HTeaO team can focus on more strategic aspects of their expansions. Alleviating store employees from the tackling of individual IT issues leaves more time to deliver HTeaO’s authentic customer experience. Stoddard can focus on root causes and stay centered on the company’s greater IT vision.
There’s a lot that goes into expanding your brand footprint. SOC has helped HTeaO take tech off its plate.