QSR May 2022

CONS UME R I NNOVAT I ON WI S H L I S T: 5 6 % D E S I GNAT E D DR I VE -THRU L ANE F OR MOB I L E P I CKU P • 42 % FOOD KE P T WARM AT P I CKUP S TAT I ON • 27 % MOB I L E ONLY ORD E R I NG FOR FA S T AND E A S Y P I CKU P • 27 % R E S TAU R AN T AU TOMAT I CA L LY CHECKS CU S TOME R I N UPON ARR I VA L AT CU R B S I D E • 27 % A B I L I T Y TO T E X T ORD E R TO R E S TAUR ANT

Before the pandemic, restaurants weren’t exactly first to the innovation stage. Hos pitality can be fickle. Consumers change. So domarkets and demographics. And, at least in multi-unit and franchise systems, the ROI on any bill placed in front of oper ators has to print in big letters. ¶ However, COVID forced the cycle to step quicker. No other external force was capable of stripping access the way dine-in bans did. In turn, restaurants, and quick-serves in particular, sped to open channels and get food to guests. Drive-thru, curbside, mobile, and the rethinking of kitchen capacity via virtual brands, went fromboardroomplans to overnight reactions. Eventually, as restaurants turned the corner, consumers reclaimed their center of gravity, Judy Chan, CMO of customer arrival platform Bluedot says. ¶ And so, where did this take res taurants? Straight into an era of convenience, which is something the consumer was asking of restaurants pre-virus. “Across six studies, consumer demand for convenience has stood out as a key theme,” Chan says, referencing the company’s consumer polls throughout the crisis. “In the coming year and beyond, we’ll see restaurant brands aggressively invest in digital strategies both in-store and off-premises to improve A cross-channel digital world has emerged out of the pandemic. Here’s why it’s not going anywhere.

ADOBE STOCK / MIHAIL. BULB, FORK, AND SPOON: ADOBE STOCK / GEMILANG

www.qsrmagazine.com | QSR | MAY 2022

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