Everything about today’s society is fast. Customers want what they want and they want it immediately. For restaurants in 2022 this demand for friendly, quick service comes at the same time that restauranteurs are struggling with staffing. While people understand the labor shortage issue, their understanding only goes so far. Keep them waiting too long and you’ve lost a customer for life.
According to Bluedot’s State of What Feeds Us Report speed is directly tied to sales and customer retention. Over 85 percent of customers will leave or consider leaving if the line is too long. While mobile ordering is popular, 45 percent of consumers will delete a restaurant app if they have to wait once they’ve arrived to pick-up their order. When getting a curbside order 37 percent expect to wait less than six minutes, while 33 percent will wait more than eight minutes.
Several emerging brands are taking the need for speed to heart, creating concepts that through technology and operational efficiency can keep the fast in fast casual. Here are the brands that are doing it right.
Brooklyn Dumpling Shop
It doesn’t get more efficient than a restaurant that makes money while you sleep. Brooklyn Dumpling Shop reimagined the old Automat for the 21st century and through it and other technologies created a concept that runs 24/7.
“The Automat was single handedly the greatest fast food distribution equipment ever designed. The technology we’ve brought to Brooklyn Dumpling Shop is unlike anything seen before, which will allow us to create an Autoflow from a customers’ cell phone, to our POS ordering kiosks, right to our lockers to bring quick serve restaurants into the 21st century,” said Brooklyn Dumpling Shop Founder Stratis Morfogen.
For customers the contactless process is simple and quick. Guests order on their phone or at a digital kiosk in the restaurant. When the order is ready the customer gets a text notification and can pick up their food from a designated, temperature-controlled locker, which opens automatically once they scan their barcode. The entire process is fast and requires zero human interaction.
Savannah Seafood Shack
For franchisees, Savannah Seafood Shack’s big hook is its incredible unit economics. For customers, it’s getting quality seafood quickly and at an affordable price point.
Savannah Seafood Shack uses simplified operations; all seafood is boiled, steamed or fried, resulting in an unheard of ticket time of five minutes for less. It’s use of technology, including implementing a kiosk ordering system also helps the restaurant keep the fast in fast casual.
Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken
With the success of the last year, Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken is on track to more than double its nationwide footprint in 2022. One of the biggest reasons for the brand’s success is its ability to offer foodie inspired biscuit sandwiches fast.
Rise is a concept that is rooted in company culture and technology, something they’ve found actually go hand in hand. In fact, it was with total employee buy-in that Rise implemented contactless kiosk ordering. The efficiency that the tech-driven operation now has improved employee satisfaction.
The process Rise uses to ensure fast ticket times is similar to that of Brooklyn Dumpling Shop. Customers order either on their phone or at the kiosk in store. When the order is ready a text notifies the consumer to pick up their order in a designated, temperature-controlled locker. The result is little or no wait time for the guest. The system also seamlessly integrates with third-party delivery drivers.
Taffer’s Tavern
While speed is less of a make or break issue in full-service, Taffer’s Tavern shows how it can be done in this category as well. Created by Bar Rescue star, Jon Taffer, Taffer’s Tavern is a groundbreaking concept that recreates the back of the house to bring the kitchen of the future to life today.
With over four decades of hospitality experience, much of it improving efficiencies in restaurants, Taffer spent two years developing Taffer’s Tavern. Using technology, sous vide cooking techniques, and smart system, Taffer engineered a kitchen that is hoodless and ventless, has minimal food preparation and handling and reduces labor. The result is a kitchen that reduces cooking time 50-90 percent compared to traditional kitchens.
The restaurant industry is forever changed by the pandemic. Fransmart is powering the future of restaurant brands post pandemic by bringing the most innovative emerging brands that can meet customer needs and thrive in the new restaurant normal. For more information on any of these brands that have cracked the code on speed, contact Fransmart today.