After building a  successful career in Silicon Valley in the US working for startup accelerators and incubators, Tram Bui wanted to apply the tech know-how she learned in the US this time in Vietnam, her native country.

It was a perfect scenario. Vietnam was booming with tech talent while Tram and her team had the skills and experience in creating products that go to market fast and are geared for both local and global audiences. “We saw good opportunities in Vietnam. There were a lot of good skills and very good knowledge, but they're not being utilized well in the global market,” Tram told TableCheck. 

She found her next tech venture with a well-established Vietnamese F&B brand named Pizza 4P’s, a Japanese-Italian pizza restaurant chain that was in need of a digital transformation during COVID-19.

The challenge of creating new online products for Pizza 4P’s was immense, but Tram felt inspired by the company’s mission and vision. “Pizza 4P’s stands for sharing happiness and inner peace. The company mission makes the guest experience and partner happiness as the number one priority,” Pizza 4P’s Product Manager said. 

In a separate conversation with TableCheck, Yosuke Masuko, Pizza 4P’s CEO, delves deeper into the company philosophy.

“I want to create a world where everyone can live smiling. This might sound like a fantasy to some people but this is why I named my company “Pizza 4P’s”, meaning “for peace” so we can spread happiness around the world,” Masuko says. 

Pizza 4P’s digital evolution

While Pizza 4P’s had a stronghold in the dine-in segment in Vietnam, just like any restaurant, the pandemic affected their sales. “They needed to find a quick solution to help them go to the COVID during that time, and online delivery was the only solution," Tram says.

Armed with her Silicon Valley experience, Tram and her team donned their tech hats to create an online delivery platform for Pizza 4P's and launched it fast. “We formed a team quickly, established and built the online delivery system in-house online delivery system for the company and we rolled it out within two-three months,” explains Tram.

Within six months, they were able to improve and created an automated system that matches guest delivery requests with their specified location.

“Wherever you are, the moment you enter our site, you will be matched to the specific location that is best suitable for your delivery. And then you can place an order and it will go straight to that restaurant. We have like 23 to 26 restaurants across Vietnam. From there, we began Pizza 4P’s digital transformation.”

The spirit of Japanese hospitality at Pizza 4Ps

The digital transformation was meant to enhance Pizza 4P’s Omotenashi guest experience–a Japanese hospitality concept that puts guests above all.

“We call our customers guests and they are treated very well. That’s Omotenashi. We’ll do anything we can to make our guests happy.”

Tram and her team ensured that they level up guest satisfaction at all brand touchpoints. From the time the guest books to when they arrive at Pizza 4P’s restaurant, the level of service stays consistent. 

“The moment you show up, our staff will let you know you have a table booked, and then they will greet you and then see you seated. The staff will then introduce the menu whether it's your first time visiting the store or have visited several times already. Any question you may have, our partners will please stand there and patiently wait and make sure you can get all of the information.”

When the guests finish eating, they are given a handy device where they can freely give suggestions and comments about their experience at Pizza 4P’s. The feedback system also applies to guests ordering from home.

“After the driver drops off the orders for about 30 minutes, we will send another SMS message to ask for a thank you and ask for feedback.

“We'd do anything we can to provide kaizen (the Japanese word for continuous improvement) to them. Whenever we receive feedback, even if it's just from one single person, we will try to make sure we can reach out to that guest. We will do anything we can to keep them as guests.”

Sustainability and design experience

Pizza 4P’s has fully embraced a sustainable approach to its business. From sourcing sustainable ingredients and producing their own cheese, herbs, and vegetables, quality is never compromised.

“Our materials and ingredients come from sustainable sources and we need to ensure quality and the great taste of our pizzas. We need to care about every little detail of that [sustainable] process to ensure the pizza dough is in good condition and good temperature, and that our salad pizza and pasta noodles are also fresh and well made. We take every little detail very seriously.”

This year, Pizza 4P’s also won Best Design in the 2022 Vietnam’s Restaurant and Bar Awards for its nod to sustainability and zero waste design while embodying the very best of Japanese omotenashi and the use of traditional Vietnamese materials in their restaurants.

“Sustainability is a very big part of Pizza 4P’s. We have one location in Cambodia and our very first one in Vietnam also following the Zero Waste concept.”

They have also been able to implement some sustainable actions by creating their own sustainable compost-farms and using non-plastic bags and collecting reusable glass jars/ bottles in their venues.

“Our vision “Make the World Smile for Peace” is our ultimate goal and this is actually the reason why we do the business. So we aim to make all our business-related decisions always align and contribute to achieving the vision. We also believe sustainability is the foundation to achieve our vision, since smiles and happiness come from appreciation towards others including neighbors, nature, and ultimately the next generation.”

Yosuke Masuko, CEO of Pizza 4P’s

Partnering with TableCheck

To elevate their guest experience further, Pizza 4Ps integrated with the TableCheck API and also uses TableCheck custom emails and SMS to communicate with guests. 

“Technology-wise, it's very important and critical for us to partner with a restaurant booking platform like TableCheck to be able to centralize all of our data. For example, if I'm in Hanoi, I want to see the availability and the table layout in [different restaurants] across the country [in order to] enable a good journey for our guests.”

With TableCheck, Tram says it gives them the freedom to be creative empowering Pizza 4P’s to continue providing the Omotenashi kind of guest experience that they’ve always been known for. 

“This partnership is important because sometimes you can find other partners who also provide a good system, but being able to integrate with our tech products is hard [including] having full data between one system and another [that helps us] establish the journey of our guests whether they go online or order or if they go visit the store for the dining experience. 

“When we explored TableCheck, we saw the possibilities because the integration part is very important.”

Solidifying a global brand

After launching a successful online delivery system, Tram says they are now planning to expand it further and make it a separate pillar for Pizza 4P’s.

“We have dine-in and we have a delivery business. So that expansion will allow us to basically reach our guests more and create more coverage for the brand throughout.”

Aside from online delivery, they have also launched an e-invoice system and a new booking form in collaboration with TableCheck.

“The process of obtaining that invoice has been really painful and hard. In Pizza 4P’s, we built that system to allow our guests to easily obtain that invoice. We are also building a new booking site with which we have collaborated with TableCheck. We have over 20 locations across Vietnam and we want to provide our guests a very smooth and simple journey when they go in and make the booking.”

With the digital transformation now in full gear, Pizza 4P’s is ready to expand its brand globally and fulfill its mission of spreading happiness through its pizzas worldwide.

“Definitely. We want to expand globally. We have a good team and infrastructure for our tech product. We're going to try to expand in Southeast Asia, then further than that, go beyond Asia. 

“That is something we definitely have in our vision," Tram says.

“Our 2030 year Vision is “4P’s is the most inspiring global F&B brand for spreading happiness to all people worldwide. We aim to inspire through “Sustainability” and “Innovation”. To become the global F&B brand, we also have a plan to expand into 7 different countries with global product and experience standards. That is our middle-term goal.”

Yosuke Masuko, CEO of Pizza 4P’s