Solutions Solve Problems, Features Check Boxes
There’s no shortage of promises in the tech world. Companies claim to solve every problem, deliver every solution, and constantly churn out new features. But the truth is, not all features are created equal—and more doesn’t always mean better.
At Pepper, we’ve never been in the business of building features just for the sake of it. You don’t need a tech partner that operates like a feature factory. What you need is a partner who prioritizes depth over breadth and designs tools that are not only functional but transformative.
- We prioritize thoughtful, impactful solutions over flashy features. Tools like Order Guide and AI Copilot are designed to solve real challenges for distributors and their customers.
- Order Guide v2 has reduced errors by 40% for customers and saved hours of manual work.
- Our commitment to thoughtful design ensures you get tools that work seamlessly, saving time and building trust.
We Solve Problems, Not Build Features
When evaluating software, it’s easy to be dazzled by a long list of features. But too often, these features lack the depth or thoughtfulness to truly solve real problems.
An important thing to consider when building software is just because a problem has historically been tackled a certain way doesn't mean it's the right way to do it moving forward. Let’s consider a few examples:
Order Guide Management
The Pepper Order Guide is everyone’s favorite feature, but at the end of the day.. it's just a list. Now, imagine you have multiple order guides -- it's just two lists. It’s trivial for anyone to make the claim that they support multiple order guides, but what makes the difference is how that works -- can people easily browse, add, copy, reorder, delete, rename? Does it work well when the DSR and the operator are both editing at the same time?
Delivery Tracking
Track My Truck, on its face, is an easy feature to build: you just put a truck on a map and call it a day. But the problem that folks are really trying to solve when asking for a delivery tracking feature is to remove the support burden from their team from restaurants asking where their truck is.
Too much transparency here can actually hurt -- if a truck drives away from a restaurant on their normal route, restaurants can call in asking why the truck isn't driving towards them, why they aren't next on the route etc. Instead, at Pepper we surface their information that helps the most -- an expected eta and proactive notifications if that eta changes. This both gives them the feature they want (delivery tracking) and solves their core problem (removing support burden).
Substitutions
What happens when you’re out of inventory on an item? An ‘easy’ way to solve the problem would be to take a customization approach and show a "substitute" button on items in the order guide. Customers have to hit that button, which takes them out of the order guide, into a search experience, browse around for which item to substitute, hit the back button a few times, and then find their place in the order guide again.
At Pepper, we thought about that, designed it, shared it with customers, and found that this approach pulled users out of their order placement flow, ultimately resulting in longer time to place orders and the potential for more abandoned carts.
Instead, we push all our substitutions to the very end -- place your order as you normally would, and we'll tell you at the end if there's anything special you need to pay attention to. This leads to higher order satisfaction rates, lower order time, and a greater overall app adoption.
Item Badging
Like substitutions, we could easily take the customization approach and surface a whole bunch of badges on an individual item - which is exactly what many people think users want. Unfortunately, we immediately found a compendium of UX research pointing to the blindness problem - The more badges you put in front of people, the less likely they are to pay attention to them.
Instead of a badge attracting attention to the items you want people to care about, surfacing multiple badges makes it less likely anyone will see anything, which defeats the purpose of the project entirely. That's why Pepper only allows for one badge on an item today, and why we'll be thoughtful about other ways to drive user attention in the future.
It’s not about how many features we’ve built—it’s about how well they work for you and the value they bring.
Building Good Things Takes Thoughtfulness
In the rush to “get to market,” many companies sacrifice thoughtfulness. But speed alone isn’t the measure of success.
Consider Apple—they’re rarely the first to launch a feature, but when they do, it’s because they’ve perfected the experience. People don’t choose Apple because they’re always the first to come out with a feature; they choose Apple because when they come out with a feature, it is best-in-market. At Pepper, we strive for that same intentionality. Features like Intelligent Inbox and the AI Copilot aren’t about being flashy—they’re about empowering you to get time back in your day, allowing DSRs to work smarter, work smarter, not harder.
The same thoughtfulness is behind our approach to item substitutions. We don’t just automate substitutions; we ensure they’re "good subs"—items that operators are satisfied with—versus "bad sub" that lead to frustration. Likewise, good search isn’t just about finding results; it’s about finding the right results, quickly and intuitively.
Iterative Product Creation Delivers a Better Product
Building a feature is easy. Building a good feature takes understanding, iteration, and care.
For instance, when we launched Casey, our AI Copilot, we didn’t just add machine learning for the sake of buzzwords. We designed it to anticipate your needs, suggest actions that drive sales, and act as a true assistant for DSR. Similarly, our substitution system was built with operators’ trust in mind. If a substitution doesn’t meet their expectations, it’s not just a bad feature—it’s a broken relationship.
We design every feature with this level of consideration because every action your team takes in Pepper is part of your brand. As one distributor shared, “Since implementing Order Guide v2, our team has cut order errors by 40%. It’s intuitive and saves us hours each week.”
What Does a Well-Built Product Look Like?
When all the features are there, what’s left is the design philosophy—the foundation that makes a product truly exceptional. A well-built product doesn’t just have features; it has thoughtful integration and usability at its core.
A well-built product is like a good conversation: it’s clear, intuitive, and knows what you need before you do. Here are the 10 signs of a well-built product that guide our product development:
- Does the design make sense? Does it solve a well articulated problem? A feature without a problem is an answer searching for a question. A clean, logical layout minimizes confusion and accelerates onboarding.
- How easy is it to place a simple order? What alternatives were considered? The final product must reflect and anticipate user needs. Streamlined processes reduce friction for users.
- Does the user know what to do at every step? Clear guidance ensures confidence and efficiency.
- Is there consistency in visual design? A unified design system builds trust and familiarity.
- Is there a clear hierarchy in actions? Prioritized tasks improve user focus.
- How are edge conditions and error cases handled? Proactive design prevents frustration.
- Is it scalable? Can it grow with your business? Future-proof features adapt to changing needs.
- Are features seamlessly integrated into workflows? Tools should enhance, not interrupt, productivity.
- Does it adapt to unique user needs? Flexibility ensures relevance for diverse teams.
- Is the product intuitive enough to reduce training time? Simplicity drives faster adoption.
Every feature we build is measured against these criteria because good software isn’t just about solving today's problems—it’s about paving the way for tomorrow’s success.
The Future of Pepper
The features we build today are only part of the story. What matters is what these features enable: stronger relationships, faster workflows, and greater success for you.
Our philosophy is simple: we focus on understanding you and the challenges you face, and we let that guide our product. The integrations, AI-driven tools, and design aren’t just features—they’re part of a promise to help you grow.
At Pepper, we’re not just building tools; we’re building your future. Every thoughtful feature we create is designed to strengthen your business, save time, and grow relationships and help get people excited about the work they're doing and the tech that’s helping them get there.
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