Chipotle will soon be opening the doors to its very first Chipotlane Digital Kitchen in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and it offers a look at the way restaurants are adapting to support growing digital businesses. This prototype location includes a walk-up window for convenient pickups and no inside access for guests, but it does offer patio seating space.
Tabassum Zalotrawala, chief development officer at Chipotle, says "Our portfolio of approximately 300 Chipotlanes perform with the highest margins across the board, so we continue to evolve our restaurant design with formats like the Chipotlane Digital Kitchen." Notably, the Chipotlane Digital Kitchen footprint is even smaller than a traditional Chipotlane and the kitchens have a line that's dedicated to making digital orders placed online and via the app.
What's Driving This Trend
- Digital Kitchens
- The rise of digital kitchens allows for a smaller footprint and dedicated lines for online orders and app purchases.
- Chipotlanes
- Chipotle's Chipotlanes have higher margins and may inspire other fast-casual brands to consider drive-thru only locations.
- Convenient Pickups
- Walk-up windows and dedicated pickup areas cater to the growing trend of consumers preferring convenient and contactless options.
Who This Affects Most
- Fast-food
- Fast-food chains can benefit from the smaller footprint of digital kitchens and focus on online orders to increase efficiency and margins.
- Restaurant
- Traditional restaurant brands may benefit from adding dedicated pickup areas and drive-thru only locations to better serve the needs of consumers.
- Technology
- The rise of digital kitchens opens opportunities for technology companies to create new software and hardware solutions to optimize the ordering and fulfillment process.
