NCR Aloha + DirectOrders

Aloha started with Aloha Technologies in the 1990s, was bought by Radiant Systems in 2001, and became part of NCR Corporation when NCR acquired Radiant in 2011. In late 2023, NCR Corporation split into two separate public companies: NCR Atleos (the ATM business) and NCR Voyix (the digital commerce and restaurant business, including Aloha). Today the Aloha product family lives inside NCR Voyix.

Aloha's heritage is full-service casual dining. Table management, server-side check flow, splits, complex modifier rules, kitchen ticket routing, labor management, multi-location reporting, and enterprise integrations are all part of the platform. For chains like national casual dining brands, regional bar-and-grill groups, and large franchise operations, Aloha has been the default POS for decades. Aloha Tableservice handles full-service workflow, Aloha Quick Service handles QSR, and Aloha Loyalty handles the in-store loyalty layer.

NCR Voyix has also pushed into cloud with Aloha Cloud Restaurant Solutions, a more modern cloud product aimed at smaller and independent operators. But the bulk of the existing Aloha install base is on the classic Aloha environment that has been refined over more than 20 years.

Aloha's strength is in-store full-service operations. The platform was not originally built around a direct-to-consumer online ordering channel, and adding one inside the Aloha environment usually involves NCR Voyix or a certified partner. That typically means additional licensing, partner integration fees, and IT engagement to wire the online ordering surface into the existing Aloha menu structure, kitchen routing, and labor flows. For a large chain that already has IT capacity, this is workable, though slow. For mid-market and independent Aloha restaurants, it is a real friction point.

On the customer-facing side, the online ordering experience tied to Aloha is constrained by the partner platform that powers it. Brand surface, Voice AI, multi-channel distribution to Google, Instagram, WhatsApp, and ChatGPT search, and a fully portable first-party customer database are not standard features. Delivery fulfillment depends on whichever partner the chain has integrated with the Aloha environment.

For a chain that wants Aloha to keep handling everything it is good at (table management, KDS, server-side flow, labor) and a separate platform to handle the direct online and Voice AI phone channels with its own brand surface, the natural answer is a parallel platform that does not touch Aloha at all.

DirectOrders does not modify Aloha. Aloha terminals continue to run dine-in and tableside. Aloha kitchen routing keeps going. Aloha labor scheduling and multi-location reporting stay in place. The NCR Voyix contract is not affected.

Alongside Aloha, DirectOrders runs the direct online ordering channel. Each location gets its own branded ordering page with location-specific menu, delivery zones, and hours, managed from a single DirectOrders dashboard. Voice AI handles phone orders across the footprint. Uber Direct and DoorDash Drive deliver at courier cost. Online orders print on the same Epson kitchen printer each location already uses for Aloha tickets.

For franchise operators, this is the pattern that keeps Aloha's full-service workflow identical at every store and standardizes the direct online channel under one chain-wide brand and one customer database, without the partner integration cycle that an Aloha-internal online ordering build would normally require.