Digital Ordering & Loyalty — Proposal · April 2026
THISBOWL
Digital Platform
Custom ordering, loyalty, and kitchen operations — built to scale from Tribeca to everywhere.
Digital Ordering & Loyalty — Proposal · April 2026
Custom ordering, loyalty, and kitchen operations — built to scale from Tribeca to everywhere.
The Opportunity
THISBOWL's US locations are at capacity constraints — long lines, peak-hour chaos, and demand that consistently outpaces the make line. Meanwhile, US stores capture no customer data, run no loyalty program, and take zero digital orders.
The Tribeca opening this summer is the forcing function. It's also the opportunity: build a digital platform that converts walk-in demand into owned customer relationships, and that scales to 60+ locations if the pilot succeeds.
US stores have no app, no web ordering, no loyalty — all revenue captured in-store, in line.
No loyalty, no remarketing, no purchase history. Every transaction is anonymous.
Successful US pilot unlocks Australia (60 stores) and the US expansion roadmap.
03 / 13
The hardest part isn't taking the order — it's translating what a customer built into a docket the make line can execute at speed.
Built on Square
Square processes all payments in-store and online — Apple Pay, Google Pay, card, and Square Pay. The POS is already in every THISBOWL location, so digital orders route directly into the existing workflow with no hardware changes.
Square Online supports menu management, location-based ordering, and cart and checkout out of the box. It's the right foundation for the web ordering experience — reliable, maintained, and built to scale.
Square Loyalty handles points-per-dollar earning without any custom development. Customers start earning on their first order at launch, and the program is visible in-app and at checkout — no custom build required.
Square's dashboard gives store managers real-time sales, order volume, and location-level performance — a solid baseline that Monstarlab can extend with custom dashboards as THISBOWL's data needs grow.
Where We Come In
Square routes orders to the kitchen as placed. For THISBOWL's BYO model, a custom middleware layer translates customer selection order into make-line sequence — grains first, protein second, toppings last — so the kitchen can execute at speed without reinterpreting every ticket.
Square's modifier system is a strong foundation. Given near-infinite BYO permutations, we build on top to surface allergen conflicts automatically and flag them prominently on the docket — a layer Square isn't designed to handle natively at this complexity.
Square supports prep time configuration at the location level. Dynamic capacity logic — tied to real-time queue length, channel mix, and peak-period staffing — is where custom middleware earns its place, giving THISBOWL accurate wait times when the lunch rush hits.
Square Loyalty is the right starting point for launch. The custom work comes in Phase 2: challenge-based earning, Strava integration, cross-channel mechanics, and loyalty tiers that Square's native product isn't designed to support.
Why Monstarlab
Amazon Go
Custom Kiosk & Kitchen Display System
Designed and built a custom kiosk and KDS for Amazon Go — enabling customers to build their own sandwiches and salads with unlimited modifications and full allergen management. The custom KDS translated customer selections into kitchen-optimized docket sequences, launched across 3 locations with ongoing iteration and expansion.
Shake Shack
Mobile, Web & Kiosk Ordering Platform
Three-year digital partnership spanning mobile app, web, and in-store kiosk — all built atop a custom middleware layer that unified ordering across channels. Delivered best-in-class UX that drove measurably higher order values and one of the highest-rated food apps in the US.
Our Recommendation
To hit a summer Tribeca launch with confidence, we're recommending a focused MVP that gets THISBOWL taking digital orders from day one — using Square's native capabilities where they're sufficient, and custom-building only where they're not. Everything beyond the core is sequenced as parallel streams you can activate based on budget and priority.
✓ MVP — ~12 Weeks
— Post-Launch · Parallel Streams
These streams can run simultaneously or be staggered — sequencing depends on THISBOWL's budget and priorities, not a fixed roadmap order.
Technical Approach
Square handles all payment processing, in-store POS, and order routing. We build on top — not around — their API.
A unified API layer sits between Square and all client surfaces — web, iOS, Android. Enables experience parity and avoid the fragmentation of THISBOWL AU's current stack.
Square's out-of-the-box loyalty handles points earning from day one without custom development. Advanced redemption rules and challenge mechanics can layer on in a later stream.
Kitchen (KDS, dockets, allergens), throttling (dynamic wait time middleware), and reporting (admin dashboard) are scoped as separate streams — each can be activated independently based on budget and priority.
We're scoping this as a hybrid mobile build. Technology selection will be finalized in discovery — Capacitor is our current working assumption.
Full IP transfer on delivery. No seat fees, no per-store licensing as you scale to 60+ locations.
Delivery Approach
The MVP is a ~12 week build. Everything beyond it can be sequenced or run simultaneously — activated based on THISBOWL's priorities and budget.
Core Ordering Platform
~12 weeks · core team
Advanced Features
Post-launch · core team continues
Reporting & CRM
Separate team · runs alongside
Kitchen & Hardware
Separate team · runs alongside
Team Structure
MVP · Core Team
| Lead Designer | 1 |
| Tech Lead | 1 |
| Backend Engineer | 1 |
| Frontend Engineers | 2 |
| QA Engineer | 1 |
| Delivery Manager | 1 |
| Total | 7 |
Scoped as a hybrid mobile build (Capacitor). Final technology selection confirmed in discovery.
Next Up · Core Team
| Same core team continues post-launch |
Throttling, advanced loyalty, and challenges are handled by the existing MVP team in the next sprint — no additional hiring required.
In Parallel · Reporting
| Backend Engineer | 1 |
| BI Specialist | 1 |
| QA Engineer | 1 |
| Total | 3 |
Custom reporting & admin dashboard, automated CRM. Runs alongside the core team independently.
In Parallel · Kitchen
| Backend Engineer | 1 |
| Frontend Engineer | 1 |
| QA Engineer | 1 |
| Total | 3+ |
KDS, dockets, allergens. Printer integration may require an additional engineer.
Investment
Custom software means a larger upfront investment than off-the-shelf — but as THISBOWL scales to 60 AU locations and doubles US store count annually, there are no per-location licensing fees. The economics flip quickly at scale.
Next Steps
Whether KDS is a day-one requirement or a later phase changes the kitchen stream scope significantly. Before assuming a full custom build, it's worth exploring whether Square's existing KDS supports modifier reordering that gets close to the make-line goal — something we'd dig into together.
Working session to confirm scope, stream sequencing, and investment range. We come with a point of view — you confirm or adjust.
Once aligned on scope and budget, we move to contract and kick off discovery. The clock starts then — not before.
How We Measure Success
Let's Build It
Questions, adjustments, or ready to move forward —