MOBILE ORDERING IS THE CENTERPIECE OF BURGER KING’S NEW DESIGN

 

Next year, Restaurant Brands International will begin to roll out new designs for its Burger King chain that are only two-fifths the physical footprint of its traditional fast-food restaurants (which range from 3,000 to 4,000 sf on one-half to 1.5 acres), and are meant to provide customers with different ways food can be ordered and delivered. The first new restaurants will be built in Miami (Restaurant Brands’ headquarters city), Latin America, and the Caribbean islands. Restaurant Brands did not disclose when the new designs would be extended to other cities in the U.S. Burger King has 18,756 locations in more than 100 countries, nearly all of which are independently owned franchises.

The new store blueprint emphasizes six elements:

• A double or triple drive-thru with digital menu boards and advertising.

An external walk-up window on a glass façade is an alternative ordering point.

• Guests can park their cars in a drive-in area under a solar-paneled canopy, place orders by using the BK App or scanning a QR code, and have their food delivered to the vehicles.

• Customers can use a mobile app to place advance orders, for which the stores have dedicated parking slots for curbside delivery. The app also notifies employees when the customer arrives.

• Mobile and delivery orders can also be picked up from coded food lockers positioned at the store’s exterior. The food will be delivered straight from the kitchen.

• The restaurants will continue to offer on-premises dining. But one design option replaces the indoor dining room with a shaded patio and outdoor seating.

• One design features a kitchen and dining area that’s suspended above the drive-thru lanes, another gesture toward reducing the store’s footprint. Drive-thru guests would have their orders delivered from the kitchen via conveyor belt, with each lane having its own pickup spot. There is also an indoor seating area, designed for an almost 100%-touchless experience.