There is an old saying that in every tragedy there is an opportunity. Sometimes it’s our darkest moments that we find a way to make the world a better place, and that’s exactly what Christine de Wendel, Co-Founder and CEO US Sunday sought out to do during the pandemic. Today marketers are all trying to create a frictionless experience. Or simply, a better buying experience for the consumer. But what is less seamless than waiting on the person to bring you the bill? Sunday sought to rectify this, and they did.

“We said, if we want to get to market really quickly and take advantage of this incredible wave, and this opportunity that has come out of the COVID pandemic, we need to make [payment] really easy. And so our solution is we put a QR code on the table. We map it to the point of sale system. It allows you as a consumer to scan the QR code on the table, see the menu, order like many restaurants already had, but then pull up your bill and pay. And so we’re transforming something that used to take 15 minutes and we’re turning it into a ten second experience”

Sunday’s technology is simple, but has innovated the restaurant industry in ways that has staying power.. Not only is it creating a smoother process for consumers, but it also has the possibility to give businesses a better sense of who they are working with while also creating more personalized experiences..

On Marketing Trends, Christine takes us through the process of jumping on an opportunity, how to scale quickly while finding good candidates regardless of market, and, the importance of a strong central branding and so much more on this episode of Marketing Trends.

Main Takeaways

• QR Codes should be an important part of your business.
  • They help make payments smoother for your consumers.
• It’s important for a start up to over invest in brand identity.
  • Hiring local experts when expanding globally is important to understand the culture and mindset of customers.
  • It’s important to have a strong central brand, but allow for flexibility in local markets.
• When you’re an entrepreneur, you’re going to have extreme emotional highs and lows as you see your idea come to life.

Key Quotes

“We said, if we want to get to market really quickly and take advantage of this incredible wave and this opportunity that has come out of the pandemic, we need to make it really easy. And so our solution is we put a QR code on the table. We map it to the point of sale system. It allows you as a consumer to scan the QR code on the table, see the menu, order like many restaurants already had, but then pull up your bill and pay. And so we’re transforming something that used to take 15 minutes and we’re turning it into ten-secondnd experience”

“As an early stage startup, you over-invest in brand.”

“We’ve had great traction and great partnerships with most of the point of sales because they realize that it’s a very fragmented market and that working with us means that we’re really building something that’s going to address 70, 80, 90, 100 percent of the market, as opposed to just their customer base.”

“Entrepreneurs will tell you this every day, it is full of challenges and the ups and downs of building a company like this are incredible. Seeing your product live is so rewarding and the stress and the anxiety of making sure that you’re building a really robust product that won’t disappoint is also extremely nice. I love the enthusiasm we’re getting, and am extremely appreciative of my teams because I never thought it would be such a roller coaster in terms of emotions. It’s really a call out to other entrepreneurs that this is exciting, but this can be so hard. 

Bio

Christine de Wendel is the co-founder and CEO of Sunday, a QR-based payment platform that improves the ease of the guest checkout experience. Prior to Sunday, Christine became an expert in European E-commerce. Between 2020 and 2017, Christine was Chief Operating Officer of ManoMano, one of France’s fastest growing tech companies and Europe’s leading online platform for home improvement.  Prior to joining ManoMano, Christine spent seven years at Zalando, Europe’s largest online fashion retailer, where she built up the Paris office and managed Zalando’s French business.  Christine began her career as a consultant with Bain & Company in Paris and New York.  She is currently working on a new venture.

Christine holds a BSc in International Affairs from Georgetown University, an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and an MBA from INSEAD.  Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Christine has American, French and Austrian citizenship. She currently lives in Atlanta with her husband and three children after spending 15 years in Paris.

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