Dunkin’s first digital-only restaurant officially launched this week in Boston. The new location has no dine-in area, and orders are placed through Dunkin’s mobile app or in-store kiosk. Customers still collect their own orders, so this is not a virtual restaurant or a ghost kitchen. It’s just the latest quick service restaurant (QSR) experimenting with a digitally focused model to take advantage of the growing demand for off-premise offerings.
McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Chipotle and other QSRs are focusing on their off-premise offerings. Shake Shack introduced their first drive-thru this year, and Starbucks announced plans for drive-thu only stores.
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Dunkin’ told Restaurant Dive that the number of employees at this location, “is consistent with restaurants utilizing traditional order taking systems.” Which makes sense. While many Dunkin’ locations do offer seating, it’s never been a full-service model. There are no hosts, waiters or bussers taking care of tables. However, their real estate footprint is smaller, which will equate to massive savings over time.
This move is part of Dunkin’s larger growth strategy. Earlier this year, they announced plans to open more nontraditional locations before the end of the year. They opened 27 such venues in 2020, mostly in airports, malls, casinos and convention centers.
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Within the franchise world, a non-traditional location is a venue located inside another building, like a mall, stadium or campus. These locations take advantage of another building’s customer-base. Traditional locations, which are either freestanding or part of a strip mall, attract customers specifically for their offerings.
"Our flexible concepts for any non-traditional format have been an essential aspect of our growth over the past decade and will remain a vital part of our future development strategy," announced Chris Burr, director of nontraditional development at Inspire Brands.
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While most independent operators aren’t in a position to follow suit, they should be paying attention to the rising trend in digital ordering. If you haven’t set up mobile ordering in your venue yet, now is the time.
Mobile ordering has more benefits than just customer convenience. When executed well, mobile ordering can reduce strain on kitchens by spreading out orders over time, increase spend up to 20% more per transaction, offer valuable data on your customers and their spending habits, allow for easy-to-adjust menus, and encourage repeat customers with digital-only offers.
Not every operator can go full Jetsons, but there is space for everyone to earn more revenue through technology in a post-COVID world.
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