Restaurant Technology Adoption Pays Dividends The future in most industries is nibble management who embrace technology and creative thinking.
In this case, many will survive and thrive. Because they were “pushed into the cold pool” and learned the essential value of innovation. Nowadays, if you’re not innovating, you’re dying.
Fast casual restaurants. Chains such as Chipotle and Panera Bread that land somewhere between fast food and casual dining. Were hit hard early on in the pandemic. They lacked a lockdown must-have: drive-thrus. To compensate, many brands turned to tech, accelerating investments in things like white-glove apps, pay-at-table options and digital menuboards, QSR reports. They also added access points, from pick-up windows and curbside service to, yes, the occasional drive-thru lane.
The pivot is paying off.
Off-premises purchases or digital orders now account for 80% of sales, per QSR. As a result, experts say fast casuals are primed to take a big bite out of fast food chains’ market share.
Essentially, the category’s historic strengths were the same reason it had a steeper climb out of the COVID gates. But fast casual’s comeback was remarkably swift. And the result is going to shake up all of quick service for years, if not decades, to come. What changed? Fast casuals embraced tech and accessibility in ways they never did before. From pickup windows to full-on drive-thrus to white-label apps and much more.
The result: a new generation of stronger brands. We’re talking the same quality-first, on-trend concepts that consumers clamor for, but with the convenience chops, tech stacks, and store designs of far larger fast-food brands.
“It’s not just transactional,” CAVA CEO Brett Schulman says. “And you’re not just tasting our brand through the food you’re eating but you’re feeling our brand through the digital hospitality you’re getting in your digital experience”
