Donatos Case Study:

Donatos Rolls Out Revmo AI to 174 Stores Boosting New Orders by 26,800

Overview

Established more than 60 years ago in Columbus, Ohio, Donatos Pizza is a family-owned brand known for its famous thin-crust pizzas loaded Edge to Edge®. With 179 restaurants across multiple states and nearly 300 non-traditional locations, Donatos is a household name in the Midwest and beyond.

In early 2025, the phone channel at Donatos needed to do more, such as answer immediately, sound like a seasoned team member, handle payments and convert without dragging staff off the line or the dining room. At the same time, the vendor landscape was shifting. Donatos had previously piloted an automated phone-ordering service via DoorDash and evaluated top-tier voice AI for restaurant providers, including SoundHound and Kea. 

The Challenge

Scaling across 174 restaurants meant Donatos had to address three critical challenges before choosing the right voice AI partner.

1

Rising Call Volumes, Stretched Staff

Donatos restaurants were fielding more phone orders than staff could manage, leading to longer hold times, missed calls, and staff pulled away from serving in-store guests.

2

Limited Payment & Integration Options

Prior phone solutions couldn’t process secure in-call payments or integrate cleanly into Donatos’ proprietary POS, creating friction and errors in order handling.

3

Inconsistent Guest Experience

Automation pilots lacked natural, human-like conversations. Guests wanted a seamless order flow that felt like talking to a team member — without dragging crew away from the makeline.

“Our focus was simple: deliver a better guest experience on the phone and increase order conversions across the system... Revmo’s voice AI for restaurants is natural to talk to, processes payments securely and flows straight into our POS. The AI ordering system rollout to 174 locations has met our expectations on both customer experience and revenue.”

— Kevin King, President, Donatos Pizza

The Revmo AI Solution

Donatos selected Revmo AI as its systemwide ordering solution. Key reasons:

1

Complete Order Flow

Revmo AI handles the entire ordering experience from start to finish, just like a seasoned crew member. Guests can navigate the full Donatos menu, apply coupons, and securely pay over the phone — all without needing staff to step away from the makeline.

  • End-to-end order handling
  • Secure in-call credit card processing
  • Coupon recognition and application

2

Built for Peak

Donatos needed a solution that could handle the dinner rush without missing a beat. Revmo AI was stress-tested at “Insano Mode” levels of concurrency, ensuring phone lines stayed open, wait times dropped, and guests could place orders quickly even during peak demand.

  • Scales to enterprise call volumes in real time
  • Shorter ring times, fewer abandoned calls
  • Reliable performance during rush periods

3

POS-Native Integration

Unlike third-party pilots that created friction, Revmo AI was engineered alongside Donatos’ IT team for seamless integration with its proprietary POS. Orders flow directly into the system like any other channel, improving accuracy and consistency across all 174 stores.

  • Tight, co-developed integration with Donatos POS
  • Orders appear natively in the same system as in-store sales
  • Reduces errors and ensures smooth store operations

301,388

Calls Handled (April–August)

71%

Conversion Rate (vs. 58% benchmark)

99.9%

Order Accuracy (~1 in 1,000 corrected)

Results

Results

1. Faster Rollout

  • All 174 stores live in just 7 waves over weeks, not months

2. More Orders

  • Conversions lifted from 58% → 71%
  • ~26,800 incremental orders generated in just 5 months

3. Higher Accuracy

  • 99.9% order accuracy (~1 in 1,000 corrected)

4. Staffing Impact

  • 4,841 staff hours reallocated in August alone (~30 FTE months)
  • Staff focused more on expo, throughput, and hospitality

5. Operational Insights

  • Analytics on call types, transfers, and ring times
  • Improved staffing models and script refinement
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“The smooth launch reflects how Ops and IT operated as one team ... The launch went tremendous, and our teams worked great. I’ve done several launches, and this was by far the smoothest and most collaborative one yet.”

—Ben Smith, Director of Operations, Donatos Pizza

Staffing Impact

4,841

Staff Hours Reallocated (in August)

30 FTE

Reclaimed FTE-Months (in August)

Staffing Impact

“Revmo gives our people air cover on the phones, and we can apply those minutes to what guests notice, such as accuracy, speed and hospitality.”

—Ben Smith, Director of Operations, Donatos Pizza

Reclaiming Time Where It Matters Most

Reclaiming Time Where It Matters Most

With Revmo handling routine calls and phone orders, Donatos reclaimed nearly 4,841 hours in August alone — the equivalent of 30 full-time team members’ worth of labor. That time was redirected back to what matters most: serving guests, improving throughput, and maintaining speed and accuracy during rushes.

  • Right-shored call coverage — human agents now focus on complex or high-touch orders (like catering and special requests), while Revmo AI manages high-volume, routine calls.
  • Enhanced on-floor hospitality — fewer staff pulled off the makeline or front counter means faster service, better accuracy, and improved guest recovery when issues arise.
  • Greater manager leverage — store leaders spend less time answering phones and more time coaching teams, orchestrating shifts, and ensuring consistency across service.
  • Operational stability — steadier schedules and fewer overtime spikes during peak periods without adding headcount

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