User:EzCater/sandbox

ezCater is an online food ordering marketplace that connects businesspeople with thousands of caterers across the U.S. It is one of the oldest online food ordering platforms, serving companies of all sizes. As of 2015, ezCater has served over 4 million people.

The Boston, Massachusetts-based company was founded in 2007 by Stefania Nappi Mallett and Briscoe Rodgers. ezCater originally offered online ordering from local restaurants and catering companies in Boston, MA and Greensboro, NC. The company's service area has since expanded across the entire United States. As of March 2015, ezCater offered online ordering from over 40,000 restaurants and catering companies in more than 20,000 cities and towns in all fifty U.S. states.

ezCater offers online ordering from both local independent restaurants and national chains. Many of the company's catering partners have appeared on the Nation's Restaurant News list of Top 100 Chains, including Ruby Tuesday, Boston Market, Einstein Bros. Bagels, and more. Customers can place orders online or by phone, immediately or up to a year in advance. Orders are supported by the company’s concierge service. The service—including the concierge assistance—is free for users. Caterers pay ezCater a commission on orders they receive.

History
ezCater was founded in 2007 by Stefania Nappi Mallett and Briscoe Rodgers. It is an offshoot of their previous company, PreferredTime, which facilitated sales meetings between healthcare providers and pharmaceutical professionals. While pharmaceutical and healthcare sales representatives were ezCater’s original focus, the company has since expanded to support business professionals in any industry.

In spring 2014, ezCater raised $4 million in funding from investors including private equity firm Breton Capital Management, Launchpad Venture Group, and angel investors including Zipcar investor Jill Preotle.

In spring 2015, ezCater raised $12.9 million in equity funding from New York-based Insight Venture Partners and a handful of other investors, including Breton Capital Management and Launchpad Venture Group, both based in Boston. As of 2015, ezCater has raised a total of $19 million in funding. ezCater CEO Stefania Nappi Mallett has stated that ezCater is “on the march to being a $1 billion company.”

Operations
ezCater states that its goal is to “make it easy to order food online for meetings. From routine office lunches to offsite client meetings, from 5 to 2,000 people, ezCater connects people with reliable local caterers and restaurants.” Customers input a delivery address to access a list of caterers, each of which features a menu, customer reviews, a list of popular menu items, and people served estimates.

The website allows customers to filter their search results based on cuisine type, price per person, minimum order size, delivery fee, and more. Customers may also search for a particular dish or caterer by name. ezCater offers many ease-of-ordering features, including one-click reordering and collaborative ordering, where the credit card of the party who is paying can be hidden from other parties who help set up the order or choose the food. Customers can place orders online or by phone, immediately or up to a year in advance. All orders are backed by the company’s concierge service, which double-checks every order for completeness, confirms receipt of the order with the caterer, and reconfirms that the delivery is on track. The company offers an ezRewards Frequent Buyer Program, which issues rewards points to customers for orders placed, caterers reviewed, and referrals. These rewards points may be redeemed for discounts on orders placed on ezCater, or for Amazon gift cards.

Enterprise Solution
ezCater also offers a nationwide business catering solution for enterprises. Corporations that use the company’s enterprise catering solution gain access to company-wide reporting, centralized billing, budget controls, exportable expense data, and across-the-board cost savings on their catering budget. A 2014, ezCater-conducted survey of sales professionals who use the service found that 65% close more sales, 77% make more sales calls, and 89% save time on paperwork by using the service.

Recognition
As of May 2015, ezCater has received a 9.6 out of 10 Trustscore rating on Trustpilot, an independent third-party review service.

CEO Stefania Nappi Mallett was named a Mass High Tech Women to Watch honoree in 2007.