An Ohio pizzeria turned missed calls into bigger orders.

The problem before SWIPEBY

Pizzerias live and die on phone orders, and Marscotti's was no different. The issue any busy pizza shop knows: at peak rush, the phone rings while the kitchen is firing, the counter is taking walk-ins, and someone — sometimes everyone — is too busy to answer. Calls go unanswered, voicemails get left, and orders walk to competitors.

One customer profiled in the AOL piece described the pre-SWIPEBY experience directly:

"So many times before the line was busy or it just rang when no one was available to answer."

— Jim Pecorelli, Marscotti's customer (AOL / Canton Repository, Jan 2024)

What SWIPEBY's AI phone actually does

SWIPEBY's Voice AI Phone System answers the inbound call, identifies what the customer wants, takes the order, and suggests relevant add-ons before completing it. The handoff to a human staff member happens only when the conversation requires it — special requests, complex problems, the things AI shouldn't handle.

For Marscotti's, that meant two structural changes at once: zero missed calls during rush, and consistent upsell on every order. The 20% lift in average online order is the upsell impact compounding across more captured orders.

"Now the phone is answered promptly, there are suggested add-ons to my order, my order is always accurate, and it's ready when promised."

— Jim Pecorelli, Marscotti's customer (AOL / Canton Repository, Jan 2024)

Why this is meaningful for other independents

Marscotti's isn't a 500-location chain with a call center. It's an Ohio pizzeria. The economics of phone-order recovery + per-order upsell are particularly favorable for single-location and small-chain independents because:

• Missed-call recovery alone often pays for the AI phone module within weeks at typical pizzeria volumes
• Suggested add-ons compound on every captured call, not just the ones that would have been missed
• Consistency of voice across every call removes the "junior-staffer-on-Saturday" variance that hurts independents disproportionately
• The operator doesn't have to staff the upsell — it happens whether the kitchen is calm or slammed

How it fits in SWIPEBY's full stack

The AI phone module is one of several agentic systems running for Marscotti's via SWIPEBY. The platform also runs review/reputation management, social media content production, email/SMS marketing, and online ordering — all continuously, without the operator configuring campaigns. The AI phone module is what AOL/Canton Repository specifically highlighted, but it's part of a broader done-for-you marketing stack.

Compare this to what competitor platforms offer for AI phone:

• Toast: no native inbound AI phone agent (Toast partners with SoundHound for in-restaurant voice ordering and Incept AI for Drive-Thru, but neither answers inbound phone calls)
• Owner.com: no AI phone module at all
• PopMenu: AI Answering exists, but as a $349/mo add-on on top of the $179–$499/mo subscription
• SpotHopper: not advertised as a native module

See the comparison pages for the full operator-decision breakdown across each competitor.

Source. Bev Shaffer, "Marscotti's Pizza in Perry Twp. turns to AI to improve sales, service", AOL / Canton Repository, January 15, 2024. Read the original article →