Chipotle’s tech push paid off big when the coronavirus pandemic hit
Chipotle
While restaurants are figureheads for the Corona virus economic cooling, Chipotle Mexican Grill saw 81% increase in digital orders in the last quarter and its share price rose almost 12% the week after these results. The company began an aggressive push to interact digitally with its customers a few years before the pandemic, which turned out to be timely in a way it could not have predicted.
Mobile orders and special kitchen counters to fulfill these orders were a big step, but even the screens above Chipotle’s prep switches were adjusted. “We developed a digital screen system that does not use text but uses images of the ingredients to help a crew member prepare and order quickly and accurately,” said Curt Garner, CTO at Chipotle. “These digital kitchens can work very quickly and with great accuracy.”
Look at that:
Chipotle’s tech rush couldn’t have been better …
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Despite the digital emphasis, Garner admits that there are times when orders in the restaurant work better. “If you want to have this conversation for a little less or a little more or something, or if (celiac) customers come in and ask the crew member to change gloves before placing their order.” In order to avoid contamination of the wheat, personal orders work best – if it is possible again.
Digital orders are placed on the shelves near the front of the restaurant for quick self-service pickup. Chipotle’s CTO does not see this as a change in the reopening of restaurants.
Chipotle
A very low-tech part of Chipotle’s digital push are the high shelves near the front of every restaurant where customers can get their digital order and get started. Despite the self-service of this process, Garner does not expect the shelves to disappear if restaurants are carefully reopened.
“All of our meals are prepared in sealed containers and then filled in sealed bags,” he says. This process is “extremely popular” with customers and accelerates delivery through aggregators such as Door Dash and Grub Hub.
Curt Garner had much more to say about what Chipotle was like during the pandemic. Watch the video above to hear everything he told CNET’s Brian Cooley.
What is a video interview and a series of panels with industry leaders, celebrities and influencers, outlining the key changes and trends that affect business, and how consumers are engaging in the “new normal” world of 2020 and above connect, be treated. There will always be changes in our world, there will always be technologies to help us deal with these changes, and we will always discuss surprising twists and turns and possible solutions.
