Sep 7, 2020
Burger King has launched a new ‘touchless’ model store, patterned to meet the critical challenges of doing business and adapting to the future “new normal” during the pandemic outbreak.
Mostly all of the eatery outlets and stores in US are featured with physically contactless deliveries through mobile apps ordering and curbside pick-up counters and drive-through and walk-up order areas.
“In March our in-house design and tech team accelerated new restaurant design plans and pushed the limits of what a Burger King restaurant could be,” said Josh Kobza, COO at Restaurant Brands International.
“We took into consideration how consumer behaviours are changing and how our guests will want to interact with our restaurants. The result is a new design concept that is attractive to guests and will allow our franchisees to maximise their return.”
The latest designed in-house store is expected to provide multiple ordering and delivery modes and highlight a physical footprint 60% smaller than a traditional Burger King restaurant.
Going hi-tech, a ‘drive-in’ service allows customers to park under sunshades doubling as solar power harvesting panels and place orders by scanning a QR code from the Burger King app. For mobile and delivery orders, customers can pick up their order at coded food lockers.
As designed, the store features a “suspended” kitchen and dining room located above the drive-thru lanes to reduce its physical trails. Orders will be delivered from the suspended kitchen by a conveyor belt system, and each lane has its own pick-up spot.
“The designs we’ve created completely integrate restaurant functionality and technology, said Rapha Abreu, global head of design at Restaurant Brands International. “We designed the interior and exterior spaces like we had a blank sheet of paper, designing without preconceived notions of how a Burger King restaurant should look.”
Still further, Burger King’s first new design stores will be built next year in Latin America, Miami and the Caribbean.