sweetgreen, a mission-driven restaurant chain offering quick-serve healthy food options, has announced that it will be launching its first 'sweetlane' concept in Schaumburg, IL, sometime this year. Essentially, the new concept is a drive-thru lane dedicated to digitally-only customers.
To use sweetlane, customers will be required to place orders through sweetgreen's digital platform in advance of their arrival at the Schaumburg location. Part of the motivation to create the digital-oriented drive-thru came from the fact that 50% of sweetgreen's total revenue in 2021 was already acquired via digital orders.
"We are always innovating to provide more convenience for our customers, which is why we’re excited about our first sweetlane concept in Schaumburg," said Nicolas Jammet, sweetgreen's co-founder and Chief Concept Officer. "Digital customers are our most habitual users, and we believe this new format will provide us with more options to connect people to real food."
Health Food Digital Drive-Thrus
sweetgreens is Set to Launch New 'sweetlane' Drive-Thru Concept
Trend Themes
1. Digital-only Drive-thrus - Sweetgreen's 'sweetlane' concept will pioneer drive-thrus dedicated entirely to ordering digitally, creating opportunities for other fast-casual restaurants to adopt this format.
2. Digital-first Restaurant Experience - The creation of a digital drive-thru highlights the importance of digital platforms in restaurant experiences, and offers innovative opportunities to provide frictionless ordering for all restaurant types.
3. Convenience-driven Healthy Food Options - The growth of digital ordering suggests convenience is preferred by consumers, creating room for healthy fast-food chains to gain further traction within the industry.
Industry Implications
1. Fast Food - The fast-food industry could learn from sweetgreen's digital drive-thru concept to provide both speed and convenience.
2. Technology - As the importance of digital-only experience is growing, tech companies could expand their market to cater to the digital ordering needs of restaurants of all types.
3. Healthy Food - Healthy fast-food chains can capitalize on the convenience trend and streamline their operations through digital order-only drive-thrus to make their offerings accessible faster and more efficiently.