Honey, I Shrunk the Restaurant!

Written By: TONY DAUSSAT Managing Experience Design Strategist, Bottle Rocket

We’re feeling more and more like the end of the pandemic is here and yet, in the fast food world, Take-Out and Drive-Thru are still eating Dine-In’s lunch. (See what I did there?)

As vaccination proof check-points become mandatory for dine-in eating across many parts of the country, juggernauts such as McDonalds, Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell continue to shut down indoor dining altogether.

It turns out that for some, the ROI is not worth all of the hassle and expense that comes with open dining rooms.

This has pivoted the way these companies have been thinking about restaurant real estate. The future is smaller footprints and ghost kitchens. To wit, Taco Bell served 4MM more cars in 2021 than in 2020–expediting their option to shrink store footprints from 2,500 sqft to 1,325 sqft with a variety of lanes focused on Mobile and Drive-Thru. Another big fast-food player, Wendy’s, is doubling down on the shrinking dine-in bet and plans to open 700 delivery-only ghost kitchens by 2025.

With Gen Z, mobile order preference grew to 65% in 2021 vs 41% in 2020. So as this next generation of spenders continue to influence the way we interact with brands, products and services–businesses must react at the speed of customer expectations, not the speed of the boardroom. For most in the fast-food and QSR space, that means a lot less real estate and a lot more connected experiences. It means bringing the dining experiences to the guest when, where and how they want it.

The days of sitting inside a fast-food joint, seeing a bunch of full tables are gone forever. The days of killer mobile ordering experience are here...and that lane is not slowing down.