A global quick-service restaurant group operating multiple brands across markets needed a scalable way to manage growth without adding complexity to store operations, finance and delivery execution. Its brands were under constant pressure to improve customer experience, control spend, accelerate store launches and respond faster to shifting consumer expectations. Yet the systems behind these priorities were fragmented across business functions, geographies and brands.
Persistent helped the client modernize three critical operating areas: enterprise finance management, real-time location intelligence and delivery optimization. By combining low-code application engineering, cloud-based decisioning, location intelligence and workflow automation, Persistent turned disconnected processes into reusable digital capabilities that improved control, visibility and speed across the client’s restaurant ecosystem.
When Brand Growth Outpaced the Systems Behind It
For a multi-brand QSR business, operational consistency is a growth requirement. Store managers needed a reliable way to forecast budgets, control spend and reduce duplicate payments. Operations teams needed real-time visibility into delivery feasibility, rider movement and store performance. Business leaders needed faster access to insights that could support new-store rollout, resource planning and margin protection. Instead, legacy systems, manual processes and siloed data slowed decision-making and increased the risk of financial leakage, delayed orders and inconsistent customer experiences.
The cost of inaction was clear. Without a unified view of budgets, purchase orders and expenditures, the client risked continued inefficiencies across planning and compliance. Without real-time delivery and location intelligence, operations teams had limited ability to respond quickly when order feasibility, routing or store readiness changed. The client needed a digital operating model that could scale across brands while still addressing the unique needs of each business.
A Scalable Digital Operating Model for Finance, Delivery and Expansion
Persistent brought a product engineering mindset to design solutions that were practical for daily users and scalable for enterprise growth. The engagement was not treated as a one-off technology implementation. It was structured as a set of reusable business capabilities that could improve financial governance, delivery execution and store expansion across the client’s brand portfolio.
Enterprise Finance Management
Persistent developed a user-centric finance application on OutSystems to create a single source of truth for budgets, purchase orders and expenditures across five hierarchy levels. The platform integrated with JD Edwards for invoicing and actuals, used Azure AD for authentication and introduced intuitive dashboards, drill-down analytics and automated workflows. It enabled more than 250 business users to manage spend, reallocate budgets, support compliance and reduce duplicate payments. The architecture also created a foundation for future integrations such as DocuSign and vendor management.
Real-Time Location Intelligence
For a leading QSR brand in the portfolio, Persistent built a cloud-based decision-making platform using Google Cloud technologies. The solution gave operations teams credential-based access to real-time analytics across more than 400 locations, helping them assess order feasibility faster and make more reliable decisions at store and regional levels.
Delivery Optimization and Store Expansion
Persistent helped another flagship brand use Google Maps and Cloud to track riders in real time, optimize routes and accelerate store onboarding. Live order tracking, chatbot-enabled customer engagement and analytics improved delivery visibility while supporting faster store launches and lower operational effort.
Measured Business Impact Across the QSR Portfolio
With Persistent, the client was able to:
- Save £117,000 through automated PO/invoice matching and streamlined financial operations. This reduced avoidable spend leakage and strengthened financial control.
- Migrate 250+ business users to a unified finance platform. This improved adoption, planning discipline and operational efficiency across stakeholders.
- Create a single source of truth for planning and purchasing. This improved budget visibility, compliance and spend management across five levels of hierarchy.
- Enable order feasibility decisions across 400+ locations. This gave operations teams faster access to delivery and store-performance intelligence.
- Reduce new-store onboarding time to 0.5 days. This supported faster market expansion and made rollout processes easier to scale.
- Improve live tracking and analytics for delivery operations. This strengthened order accuracy, delivery reliability and customer experience.
- Reduce manual effort and operational costs across brands. This freed teams from routine coordination and gave leaders better visibility into performance.
From Disconnected Processes to Scalable Restaurant Operations
Persistent helped the client move from fragmented, brand-specific processes to a more connected operating model for finance, delivery and expansion. Store managers gained intuitive tools for planning and spend control. Operations teams gained real-time visibility into delivery feasibility and rider movement. Business leaders gained a stronger foundation for compliance, resource allocation and store growth.
The engagement demonstrates how targeted digital innovation can create measurable value across a complex QSR ecosystem. By focusing on business outcomes rather than isolated technology upgrades, Persistent enabled the client to improve speed, transparency and resilience while building reusable capabilities for future transformation.
