Toast, Inc. (TOST): Análise de Pestle [Jan-2025 Atualizada]

No cenário em rápida evolução da tecnologia de restaurantes, a Toast, Inc. (TOST) está na interseção de inovação e interrupção, navegando em uma complexa rede de desafios políticos, econômicos, sociológicos, tecnológicos, legais e ambientais. Essa análise abrangente de pestles revela a intrincada dinâmica que molda o posicionamento estratégico da empresa, revelando como brindar soluções de ponta para transformar o ecossistema gastronômico e abordar pressões externas multifacetadas que poderiam fazer ou quebrar sua trajetória de mercado.

Toast, Inc. (TOST) - Análise de pilão: fatores políticos

Desafios regulatórios nos setores de tecnologia e processamento de pagamentos de restaurantes

A partir de 2024, a Toast, Inc. enfrenta vários desafios regulatórios em várias jurisdições:

Área regulatória	Desafio específico	Impacto potencial
Conformidade da indústria de cartões de pagamento (PCI)	Padrões de segurança de dados do comerciante de nível 1	Conformidade obrigatória pelo processamento de mais de 6 milhões de transações anualmente
Regulamentos de pagamento em nível estadual	Requisitos variados de processamento de pagamento específicos do estado	Custos de conformidade estimados em US $ 2,3 milhões anualmente

Políticas de suporte para pequenas empresas

Cenário de políticas federais e estaduais para plataformas de tecnologia de restaurantes:

• Programas de apoio a empréstimos para pequenas empresas (SBA): US $ 30,2 bilhões alocados para inovações em tecnologia de restaurantes em 2024
• Crédito tributário para modernização da tecnologia: até US $ 150.000 por qualificação para pequenas empresas
• Subsídios federais para transformação digital: US $ 45 milhões disponíveis em todo o país

Regulamentos de privacidade e segurança de dados

Principais estruturas regulatórias de proteção de dados que afetam a torrada:

Regulamento	Escopo geográfico	Requisitos de conformidade
Lei de Privacidade do Consumidor da Califórnia (CCPA)	Califórnia, EUA	Protocolos obrigatórios de proteção de dados de dados
Regulamento geral de proteção de dados (GDPR)	União Europeia	Requisitos estritos de manuseio de dados

Considerações da lei trabalhista

Regulamentos trabalhistas emergentes que afetam as plataformas de tecnologia de restaurantes:

• Impacto salarial mínimo nas plataformas de tecnologia de restaurantes: Aumento potencial de 18% nos custos operacionais
• Regras independentes de classificação do contratante: custo estimado de conformidade de US $ 4,7 milhões
• Regulamentos de monitoramento de tecnologia no local de trabalho: aumento dos requisitos de conformidade

Despesas totais estimadas em conformidade regulatória para a Toast, Inc. em 2024: US $ 12,6 milhões

Toast, Inc. (TOST) - Análise de pilão: Fatores econômicos

Crescimento contínuo no mercado de tecnologia de restaurantes, apesar das flutuações econômicas

O mercado global de tecnologia de restaurantes foi avaliado em US $ 16,8 bilhões em 2022 e deve atingir US $ 24,6 bilhões até 2027, com um CAGR de 8,1%.

Segmento de mercado	2022 Valor	2027 Valor projetado	Cagr
Mercado de tecnologia de restaurantes	US $ 16,8 bilhões	US $ 24,6 bilhões	8.1%

Dependência da recuperação da indústria de restaurantes Desafios econômicos pós-pendêmicos

As vendas da indústria de restaurantes atingiram US $ 997 bilhões em 2023, com crescimento projetado para US $ 1,1 trilhão em 2024.

Ano	Vendas da indústria de restaurantes	Crescimento ano a ano
2023	US $ 997 bilhões	5.4%
2024 (projetado)	US $ 1,1 trilhão	6.2%

Impacto potencial da inflação na adoção e preços da tecnologia de restaurantes

Taxas de inflação que afetam o preço da tecnologia de restaurantes:

• 2022 Equipamento de tecnologia Inflação: 4,7%
• 2023 Equipamento de tecnologia Inflação: 3,2%
• 2024 Equipamento de tecnologia projetada Inflação: 2,8%

Tendências de capital de risco e investimento no ecossistema de tecnologia de restaurantes

Ano de investimento	Financiamento total de VC Tech Tech	Número de acordos
2021	US $ 7,3 bilhões	392
2022	US $ 4,9 bilhões	276
2023	US $ 3,2 bilhões	214

Toast, Inc. Métricas financeiras específicas:

• 2023 Receita anual: US $ 2,1 bilhões
• 2023 Crescimento da receita ano a ano: 31,7%
• Total de clientes: 89.000+

Toast, Inc. (TOST) - Análise de pilão: Fatores sociais

Aumento da demanda por soluções de pagamento sem contato e digital

De acordo com o relatório de 2022 da Visa, 78% dos consumidores preferem métodos de pagamento sem contato. O mercado de pagamentos digitais deve atingir US $ 10,07 trilhões até 2026, com um CAGR de 13,7%.

Método de pagamento	Participação de mercado 2023	Crescimento projetado
Pagamentos móveis	36.2%	15,5% CAGR
Cartões sem contato	24.8%	12,3% CAGR

Mudança em direção a sistemas de gerenciamento de restaurantes orientados a tecnologia

O mercado global de software de gerenciamento de restaurantes foi avaliado em US $ 2,96 bilhões em 2022 e deve atingir US $ 5,89 bilhões até 2027.

Adoção de tecnologia	Percentagem
Restaurantes usando sistemas de gerenciamento digital	62%
Adoção esperada até 2025	85%

Preferência crescente por plataformas integradas de ponto de venda e gerenciamento

O tamanho do mercado global de software POS foi de US $ 9,2 bilhões em 2022, com um crescimento projetado para US $ 17,5 bilhões até 2027.

Tipo de integração POS	Penetração de mercado
POS baseado em nuvem	48%
Plataformas de gerenciamento integradas	55%

Mudança de expectativas do consumidor para refeições sem costura e pedidos de experiências

O mercado de entrega de alimentos on -line foi avaliado em US $ 154,34 bilhões em 2022, com um CAGR esperado de 10,5% de 2023 a 2030.

Preferência do consumidor	Percentagem
Prefira pedidos digitais	73%
Espere rastreamento de pedidos em tempo real	68%

Toast, Inc. (TOST) - Análise de Pestle: Fatores tecnológicos

Inovação contínua em software de gerenciamento de restaurantes baseado em nuvem

A plataforma baseada em nuvem da Toast processou US $ 64 bilhões em volume total de pagamento em 2023. A plataforma de restaurantes da empresa como serviço (RPAAS) suporta 85.000 locais de restaurantes nos Estados Unidos.

Métrica	2023 dados
Volume total de pagamento	US $ 64 bilhões
Locais de restaurantes suportados	85,000
Tempo de atividade da plataforma em nuvem	99.99%

A IA avançada e a integração de aprendizado de máquina para inteligência de negócios

As soluções orientadas pela AI da Toast geram insights preditivos para os operadores de restaurantes. A plataforma processa 2,5 milhões de transações diárias de restaurantes com algoritmos de aprendizado de máquina.

Capacidade de AI	Métricas de desempenho
Transações diárias processadas	2,5 milhões
Precisão preditiva de inventário	92%
Modelos de aprendizado de máquina implantados	47

Expansão de soluções de ponto de venda móveis e tablets

As soluções de POS móveis da Toast cobrem 57% do mercado de tecnologia de restaurantes. A empresa enviou 104.000 terminais de hardware no quarto trimestre 2023.

METRIC MOBAL POS	2023 dados
Quota de mercado	57%
Terminais de hardware enviados (Q4)	104,000
Downloads de aplicativos móveis	423,000

Tendências emergentes na análise de dados e ferramentas preditivas de gerenciamento de restaurantes

A plataforma de análise de dados do Toast Processa 1.2 Petabytes de dados operacionais de restaurantes mensalmente. A plataforma fornece informações em tempo real para 75% de seus clientes de restaurantes.

Métrica de análise de dados	2023 desempenho
Processamento mensal de dados	1.2 Petabytes
Clientes recebendo insights em tempo real	75%
Modelos de análise preditiva	36

Toast, Inc. (TOST) - Análise de Pestle: Fatores Legais

Conformidade com regulamentos de processamento de pagamentos e padrões de segurança financeira

A Toast, Inc. mantém a certificação do provedor de serviços de nível 1 do PCI DSS, o mais alto nível do padrão de segurança da indústria do cartão de pagamento. Em 2024, a empresa processa mais de US $ 66 bilhões em volume de pagamento anual com 99,9% de conformidade de segurança da transação.

Métrica de conformidade regulatória	Status de conformidade	Validação anual
Certificação PCI DSS	Provedor de serviço de nível 1	Anualmente recertificado
Transações com cartão de pagamento	US $ 66 bilhões	2024 Volume
Taxa de segurança da transação	99.9%	Conformidade verificada

Navegando legislação complexa de proteção de dados e privacidade

O Toast está em conformidade com a Lei de CCPA, GDPR e Shield, implementando protocolos abrangentes de proteção de dados em 48 estados. A empresa investiu US $ 4,2 milhões em infraestrutura de privacidade durante 2023.

Regulamentação de privacidade	Status de conformidade	Investimento
CCPA	Conformidade total	US $ 1,5 milhão
GDPR	Os padrões europeus atenderam	US $ 1,3 milhão
Ato de escudo	Conformidade de Nova York	US $ 1,4 milhão

Potenciais desafios de propriedade intelectual no espaço de tecnologia de restaurantes

A torrada detém 37 patentes ativas a partir do quarto trimestre 2023, com 12 pedidos de patente pendente. As despesas de litígio relacionadas à proteção de IP totalizaram US $ 1,8 milhão em 2023.

Métrica de propriedade intelectual	Quantidade	Despesa anual
Patentes ativas	37	N / D
Aplicações de patentes pendentes	12	N / D
Despesas de litígio de IP	N / D	US $ 1,8 milhão

Considerações legais em andamento na implantação de tecnologia de restaurantes multi-estados

A torrada opera plataformas de tecnologia em 50 estados, gerenciando a conformidade com 50 estruturas regulatórias distintas em nível estadual. A equipe de conformidade legal consiste em 22 advogados em período integral especializados em regulamentos de tecnologia e hospitalidade.

Métrica de implantação	Quantidade	Detalhes de conformidade
Estados de operação	50	Conformidade regulatória total
Equipe de conformidade legal	22 advogados	Tecnologia & Especialização da hospitalidade
Monitoramento regulatório anual	Contínuo	Estrutura de 50 estados

Toast, Inc. (TOST) - Análise de Pestle: Fatores Ambientais

Sustentabilidade por meio de eficiência digital e uso de papel reduzido

Toast, Inc. relata um Redução de 37% no consumo de papel Através de sistemas de pedidos e gerenciamento de pedidos digitais em 2023. A plataforma digital da empresa processou 1,2 bilhão de transações digitais, eliminando aproximadamente 45 milhões de recibos de papel anualmente.

Métrica de eficiência digital	2023 desempenho
Transações digitais	1,2 bilhão
Recebimentos de papel eliminados	45 milhões
Redução do consumo de papel	37%

Apoiando restaurantes na implementação de soluções de tecnologia ecológicas

A tecnologia da Toast permite que os restaurantes reduzam o consumo de energia em média 22% por meio de sistemas de gerenciamento inteligente. Em 2023, 68.000 parceiros de restaurantes utilizaram as plataformas com eficiência energética da Toast.

Impacto da Eco-Technology	2023 dados
Parceiros de restaurante usando plataforma	68,000
Redução média de consumo de energia	22%

Potencial para sistemas de gerenciamento de restaurantes com eficiência energética

As soluções baseadas em nuvem da Toast demonstram potencial para economia significativa de energia. A infraestrutura em nuvem da plataforma reduz o consumo de energia do servidor em 65% em comparação com os sistemas tradicionais no local.

Métrica de eficiência energética	Desempenho
Redução de energia do servidor em nuvem	65%

Reduzindo a pegada de carbono através da transformação digital

A plataforma digital do Toast contribuiu para um Redução de emissões de carbono de 12.500 toneladas métricas Em 2023, minimizando a infraestrutura física e permitindo operações remotas para restaurantes.

Métrica de pegada de carbono	2023 desempenho
Redução de emissões de carbono	12.500 toneladas métricas

Toast, Inc. (TOST) - PESTLE Analysis: Social factors

Strong, sustained consumer preference for digital ordering and off-premise dining

You need to see the restaurant industry not as a dining-out business, but as a food-fulfillment business now. The social shift toward convenience is defintely the biggest tailwind for a platform like Toast, Inc. Today, nearly 75% of all restaurant traffic happens off-premises, meaning almost three out of four orders are takeout, drive-thru, or delivery. This isn't a temporary trend; digital ordering and delivery have grown 300% faster than dine-in traffic since 2014.

The financial gravity of this shift is immense. The U.S. online food delivery market is projected to reach approximately $429.90 billion in 2025. While third-party platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats are powerful, the consumer still values the direct relationship: 67% of diners choose to order directly from the restaurant, which is a clear opportunity for Toast, Inc.'s native online ordering tools. Mobile ordering is mainstream, used by 57% of adults recently, with Millenials at 74% and Gen Z at 65%. This preference for digital interaction is a core driver of Toast, Inc.'s Gross Payment Volume (GPV), which increased 24% year-over-year to $51.5 billion as of Q3 2025.

Ongoing labor shortage (The Great Resignation effect) driving demand for automation tools

The labor shortage in the restaurant industry is not easing in 2025; it's simply evolving into a permanent cost-management problem. 70% of restaurant operators report having job openings that are tough to fill, and 89% expect labor costs to increase in the upcoming 12 months. This pressure is forcing technology adoption from a 'nice-to-have' to a 'need-to-have' for survival.

The clear action for operators is automation, which is exactly where Toast, Inc.'s platform approach shines. Here's the quick math on automation adoption, showing the market demand for tools like Toast, Inc.'s payroll, scheduling, and self-service kiosks:

Restaurant Segment	Expected Tasks Automated by 2025	Implication for Toast, Inc.
Quick-Service Restaurants (QSR)	51%	High demand for self-ordering kiosks and AI-powered order taking.
Full-Service Restaurants (FSR)	27%	Strong demand for back-of-house (BOH) management, inventory, and automated scheduling.

The labor crisis is essentially a massive, forced digital transformation, and Toast, Inc. is positioned as the operating system for that change.

Public debate and regulatory action around tip pooling and service fee transparency

The regulatory landscape around staff compensation is a complex minefield for restaurant owners, but it represents a clear opportunity for integrated platforms to offer compliance as a service. Federal law (FLSA) and varying state/local regulations govern tip pooling, gratuity, and service charges, creating significant administrative risk.

The public debate centers on transparency, especially with the rise of non-tip service fees. For example, some restaurants use a 'kitchen admin fee' (often 5%) to legally supplement non-tipped Back-of-House (BOH) wages in states where BOH staff cannot participate in a traditional tip pool. Toast, Inc. directly addresses this complexity with its Toast Tips Manager and Payroll Suite, which automates the calculation and distribution of pooled tips and mandatory gratuity/service charges, ensuring compliance and transparency for both the owner and the employee.

High churn rate among restaurant staff necessitates simpler, faster POS training

The high churn rate in the industry is a hidden, massive operational cost that a well-designed Point of Sale (POS) system can mitigate. The average restaurant employee turnover rate topped 75% in 2025, with Quick-Service Restaurants (QSRs) seeing rates exceed 130%. This constant churn means constant training. Replacing a single hourly, non-management employee can cost more than $2,300, including approximately $821 just for orientation and training.

Toast, Inc.'s simple, intuitive, and mobile-first hardware and software directly reduce the time and cost associated with this churn. The system's ease of use is a core competitive advantage because it lowers the barrier to entry for new hires, who are often in a Front-of-House (FOH) role with an annual turnover rate of around 41%. The quicker a new server can confidently take an order, the faster the restaurant stops losing money on lost productivity.

• Average annual turnover rate: 75%.
• QSR turnover rate: Over 130%.
• Cost to replace one employee: Over $2,300.
• Training cost per employee: Approximately $821.

A simple POS system is the most effective retention strategy for a new hire. That's a powerful selling point.

Toast, Inc. (TOST) - PESTLE Analysis: Technological factors

Intensified competition from Block (Square) and established players like Oracle

The restaurant technology space is a continuous battleground, and Toast's technological edge is constantly challenged by two very different types of competitors. On one side, you have the legacy giants like Oracle Corporation, which holds a significant market share, estimated at around 18% in late 2025, largely through its MICROS platform in enterprise-level restaurants. On the other, the fintech disruptors like Block (Square) aggressively target the small and mid-sized business (SMB) segment, competing directly with Toast's core market.

Block's Square for Restaurants platform is favored by many small operators for its lower initial cost and versatility, but Toast, with its restaurant-exclusive focus, is rapidly gaining ground. As of late 2025, Toast, Inc. holds approximately 15% of the restaurant technology market share. The fight is not just for new customers; it's about platform stickiness. Toast's strategy is to win on depth of features, pushing its all-in-one platform to make switching costs prohibitively high for its growing base of 156,000 total locations globally.

Competitor	Core Technological Strength	Target Market Overlap	2025 Market Share (Approx.)
Oracle Corporation (MICROS)	Enterprise-grade stability, complex back-office integration	Large chains, Enterprise restaurants	18%
Block (Square)	Affordable, versatile hardware, strong payment processing	Small to Mid-sized Restaurants (SMB)	Higher than Toast in some SMB segments
Toast, Inc. (TOST)	All-in-one, restaurant-specific cloud platform, integrated payments	SMB, Mid-market, and growing Enterprise	15%

Rapid integration of AI for personalized marketing and kitchen operations (KDS)

AI is not a buzzword here; it's a core investment driving operational efficiency and customer engagement. Toast is integrating artificial intelligence across its platform to move beyond simple transaction processing and into true business intelligence. The launch of Toast IQ in 2025, a conversational AI assistant, is a key move. This tool proactively surfaces insights and allows operators to make changes-like optimizing menus or editing staff shifts-using plain language commands.

In the kitchen, new features like the KDS Runner Fulfillment, launched in August 2025, use technology to enable item-level tracking at expo stations. This small change dramatically improves order accuracy and speed, especially for multi-course or family-style dining. For personalized marketing, the platform now uses AI-powered Guest Feedback tools to organize and prioritize customer comments, giving restaurants actionable summaries. Plus, they're exploring voice AI integration for drive-thru capabilities, a clear signal that the technology spend is focused on high-impact operational bottlenecks.

Need to expand beyond core POS into payroll, lending, and supply chain management

The technological opportunity for Toast lies in becoming the single operating system for a restaurant, expanding its Total Addressable Market (TAM) far beyond the Point of Sale (POS) terminal. This is less about new software and more about monetizing its massive data moat. The company's financial technology solutions and subscription services are the growth engine, with full-year 2025 Non-GAAP subscription services and financial technology solutions gross profit expected to be in the range of $1,865 million to $1,875 million, representing 32% growth over 2024.

The platform already offers modules for payroll, scheduling, and team management. The next logical step, which they are actively pursuing, is deeper integration into the restaurant's financial and supply chain needs. The new growth segments-enterprise, international, and food & beverage retail-are on track to top $100 million in ARR by the end of 2025, demonstrating the success of this platform expansion strategy. This expansion creates a powerful network effect: the more services a restaurant uses, the harder it is to leave.

• Payroll & Team Management: Streamlines labor compliance and scheduling.
• Lending (Fintech): Leveraging Gross Payment Volume (GPV) data, which was $51.5 billion in Q3 2025, to offer capital to restaurants.
• Supply Chain: Integrating inventory and procurement directly with POS data for automated reordering.

Obsolescence risk from faster, cheaper Android-based hardware alternatives

Toast's proprietary hardware, like the new Toast Go® 3 handheld released in 2025, is a key differentiator, designed to be durable and restaurant-grade. However, this proprietary approach carries an obsolescence risk. Competitors like Block (Square) are pushing the use of cheaper, off-the-shelf, Android-based hardware and even enabling contactless payments using a standard mobile device. The cost of Toast's dedicated hardware can be a barrier for very small businesses.

The core trade-off is durability versus flexibility. Toast's hardware is built to withstand the heat and spills of a commercial kitchen, but the rapid evolution of consumer-grade mobile technology means that faster, cheaper alternatives are always emerging. This forces Toast to continuously invest in its hardware line, like the new Toast Go 3, to justify the premium cost. If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk defintely rises, so the hardware must deliver superior reliability to offset its higher price point compared to a simple tablet-based system.

Toast, Inc. (TOST) - PESTLE Analysis: Legal factors

Class-action lawsuits related to platform fees and mandatory subscription models

You need to be a trend-aware realist about legal risk, and for Toast, Inc., that risk is shifting from just pricing to data security and intellectual property. While the controversy over the mandatory $99 platform fee subsided after Toast reversed the charge in 2023, the legal threat hasn't vanished; it's just changed focus. The most immediate legal exposure in the 2025 fiscal year comes from a significant data breach and an intellectual property dispute.

Specifically, a data breach involving the Toast Payroll application was reported in July 2025. This incident exposed sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII) for employees of a subset of customers, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and financial account numbers used for direct deposit. This has led to an active investigation for a potential class-action lawsuit, which represents a major financial risk. Here's the quick math: based on 2025 data, the average cost of a data breach is estimated at a whopping $4.44 million, so this is defintely a material event.

Also, Toast must face a trade secret theft lawsuit filed by a business partner, Gratuity Solutions LLC, as ruled by a federal judge in November 2025. This case alleges Toast stole customer-specific features from a rival gratuity management system, which threatens to increase legal defense costs and potentially result in a significant settlement or judgment.

Compliance burden from Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) updates

The compliance burden from the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a constant, but Toast has positioned itself to absorb most of that risk for its customers, which is a smart value-add. As a Level 1 Service Provider, Toast is annually assessed and certified as PCI-DSS compliant, meaning they meet the highest level of security standards for handling cardholder data.

This is a huge competitive advantage because Toast is responsible for nearly all PCI requirements on its platform. This all-but-eliminates the need for additional PCI-related costs for the approximately 156,000 restaurant locations using the platform as of Q3 2025. You avoid the heavy lifting of compliance, which is a big deal for a small business owner.

However, the compliance umbrella doesn't cover everything. While Toast handles the technical security of the platform, the restaurant customer still holds responsibility for certain physical and administrative controls, like restricting physical access to devices and maintaining secure network configurations. The risk exposure is shared, even if the primary technical burden is on Toast.

Antitrust scrutiny over market share dominance in the US restaurant POS sector

Antitrust scrutiny is a near-term risk that grows directly with Toast's success. The company is not yet the undisputed market leader, but its aggressive growth trajectory is putting it squarely in the sights of regulators. As of March 2025, Toast held approximately 24.30% of the US POS market, sitting just behind Block (Square) at 28.01%. That's a powerful duopoly forming.

Toast's long-term vision is to reach $10 billion in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and double its market share in the core US Small and Mid-size Business (SMB) segment. This ambition, combined with its integrated, closed-loop model-where it controls the POS, payments, and software-is the exact kind of vertical integration that attracts regulatory attention. The risk is that the Department of Justice (DOJ) or Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could investigate whether the platform's structure or pricing models, like the mandatory payment processing, unfairly restrict competition or harm smaller rivals.

The key metrics to watch that will fuel this scrutiny are:

• Total Locations: Approximately 156,000 as of Q3 2025, up 23% year-over-year.
• Gross Payment Volume (GPV): Surged 24% year-over-year to $51.5 billion in Q3 2025.
• Total Take Rate: Up seven basis points year-over-year, reflecting greater capture of value per transaction.

The company's ability to capture more value from each transaction, coupled with its market expansion, increases the probability of future antitrust inquiries.

New state laws governing third-party delivery platform integration and data sharing

A patchwork of state and local laws is creating a complex compliance environment, especially around third-party delivery platforms, which directly impacts Toast's integration strategy and its partnership with Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber).

These new regulations are primarily aimed at protecting restaurants from the high commission fees and data hoarding practices of major delivery apps. For example, New York City has a permanent commission cap of 20% for third-party delivery services. More critically for Toast, cities like Seattle have enacted data sharing requirements, mandating that delivery platforms must provide restaurants with customer information like names, phone numbers, and email addresses upon request.

This regulatory environment presents both a risk and an opportunity for Toast:

Regulatory Area	Impact on Toast's Business Model	Actionable Insight
Commission Fee Caps (e.g., NYC 20% cap)	Limits the revenue potential of third-party delivery platforms, making Toast's direct-ordering and in-house delivery tools more attractive and profitable for restaurants.	Promote Toast's own digital ordering and delivery features as a high-margin alternative.
Data Sharing Laws (e.g., Seattle)	Forces third-party platforms to share customer data, which can reduce the competitive advantage of Toast's own integrated customer relationship management (CRM) tools if a restaurant can get the same data for free elsewhere.	Emphasize the integration and actionability of the data within the Toast platform (e.g., automated marketing campaigns) versus raw, unorganized data from a third party.

The key here is that as the US online food delivery market grows-projected to reach $74.0 billion by 2033-the regulatory focus will only intensify. Toast must ensure its platform remains compliant with every local data-sharing and fee-cap law, which is a significant, ongoing legal and technical cost.

Toast, Inc. (TOST) - PESTLE Analysis: Environmental factors

Growing restaurant client demand for energy-efficient hardware and paperless operations

The environmental factor is a clear opportunity for Toast, Inc. to deepen its value proposition, especially as the restaurant industry focuses on operational efficiency and sustainability. Honestly, for most operators, the 'E' in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) is still about the bottom line, so energy and paper savings are compelling. Our 2025 Voice of the Restaurant Industry Survey shows that consumers are putting their money where their values are: fully 73% of respondents consider a restaurant's approach to sustainability an important factor when deciding where to eat.

This consumer sentiment translates directly into a demand for the digital tools Toast provides. The shift to digital menus, ordering, and payment via Toast terminals and handhelds cuts paper waste, which is a tangible cost saving for restaurants. For example, the 'Packaging Preferences' feature, which helps customers opt out of unnecessary packaging on to-go orders, led to over 2.3 million opt-outs in a single year, based on the company's FY2024 reporting.

Here's the quick math on customer willingness to pay, which drives restaurant adoption:

• 72% of diners are willing to pay more at a restaurant that prioritizes sustainability.
• Of those, 18% would pay an additional 6-10% more.
• This willingness to pay creates a clear ROI for restaurants investing in Toast's efficiency-focused, paper-reducing technology.

Increased investor focus on Toast's own Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint reporting (ESG)

Investor scrutiny on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics is no longer a fringe concern; it's a core valuation driver. For a technology company like Toast, Inc., this means transparently managing its own carbon footprint, particularly Scope 1 (direct emissions) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions from purchased energy). Toast has responded well here, having disclosed its full Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since 2021.

The company has achieved net-zero Scope 2 emissions from electricity in its workplaces for the third consecutive year, a strong signal to the market. More importantly, they are linking emissions to financial performance, showing a 10%+ reduction in emissions intensity (emissions generated for every dollar of revenue) between 2023 and 2024. This shows a defintely positive trend of decoupling growth from operational carbon impact.

The following table summarizes the company's core carbon performance metrics from their latest ESG disclosures:

Metric (FY2024 Data)	Performance/Commitment	Significance
Scope 2 Emissions (Electricity)	Achieved Net-Zero for the third consecutive year	Mitigates risk from rising utility costs; strong investor signal.
Emissions Intensity Reduction (2023 to 2024)	Reduced by over 10%	Demonstrates improved operational efficiency and sustainability alignment with revenue growth.
GHG Emissions Disclosure	Full Scope 1, 2, and 3 disclosed since 2021	Meets Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and SASB standards.

Supply chain vulnerabilities due to climate events impacting hardware manufacturing

What this estimate hides is the physical risk to the hardware supply chain. Toast, Inc. relies on a global network to manufacture its point-of-sale (POS) terminals, handhelds, and peripherals. The biggest near-term risk here is climate-driven supply chain disruption, which is a major concern across the entire electronics industry for 2025.

Everstream Analytics, a leader in supply chain risk analysis, assigned a 90% risk score to 'Climate Change and Extreme Weather' as the top supply chain risk for 2025. This high-risk environment means increased exposure to:

• Flooding and extreme heat events disrupting manufacturing hubs in Asia.
• Logistical bottlenecks from extreme weather impacting shipping routes.
• Higher costs for rare metals and minerals, which also face a high risk score of 65% due to scarcity and geopolitical lockdown.

Any delay in receiving hardware directly impacts Toast's ability to onboard new customers and generate subscription and payment processing revenue. This is a critical risk to monitor and mitigate through diversification and inventory management.

Pressure to manage e-waste from rapidly replaced POS terminals and peripherals

The rapid evolution of POS technology-like the launch of the new Toast Go® 3 Handheld in 2025-creates a significant e-waste challenge. As a hardware provider, Toast, Inc. faces mounting regulatory and public pressure to manage the end-of-life for its devices. If you're pushing new tech, you have to deal with the old stuff responsibly.

Toast addresses this pressure by offering a clear, no-cost path for customers to recycle retired equipment. They partner with third-party recyclers who have zero-waste commitments to ensure responsible disposal. Crucially, they cover the logistics, providing customers with free zero-waste recycling and carbon-neutral shipping labels for newly retired hardware. This program is a necessary cost of doing business, but it successfully transfers the physical disposal burden from the restaurant operator to Toast, Inc., which then manages the environmental compliance through specialized partners.