American pizza chain Hungry Howie’s taps Cartwheel AI powered technology across delivery operations
Cartwheel, an AI powered delivery platform for restaurants, reports that Hungry Howie’s Pizza is adopting its Hybrid Delivery technology across its stores. Following a pilot, it is progressing with a phased roll-out across its nearly 500-location system, with all locations targeted to be live by Q2 2027.
The partnership builds on a broader technology modernisation Hungry Howie's set in motion earlier this year, extending that work from digital ordering into how orders actually get to the door.
Hybrid Delivery gives franchisees a single view of in-house and third-party delivery, with fulfillment powered by DoorDash Drive. It prioritises in-house fleets based on configurable factors such as proximity to the store, order value and driver availability, then automatically routes to third-party drivers when demand peaks. Operators can see every driver in real-time from one place, while automated rules handle the manual work required to coordinate delivery capacity.
Cartwheel also gives franchisees more brand control over orders they do not deliver themselves. Third-party deliveries carry Hungry Howie's branded real-time tracking, promotional banners and post-delivery feedback prompts.
“We continue to see real value in maintaining a direct relationship with our guests and investing in our in-house delivery capabilities,” says Moe Shrikian, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Hungry Howie’s. “Third-party delivery provides important additional reach and flexibility, and Cartwheel helps us bring these approaches together while maintaining a consistent guest experience as we modernise our delivery operations.”
As part of the Toast partner scosystem, Cartwheel connects directly into the Toast restaurant technology platform.
"As technology advances at an unprecedented pace, enterprise pizza brands are accelerating their move from legacy systems to modern, integrated technology stacks built around best-of-breed partners,” says Alex Vasilkin, Co-founder and CEO at Cartwheel. "Cartwheel simplifies the complexity of multi-fleet delivery with AI powered orchestration today, and it provides the delivery infrastructure for what comes next, including autonomous delivery and other emerging fulfillment models."
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
