Operations
QSR restaurant design changing for speed, service
QSR restaurant design is changing. Brands are rethinking their overall dining rooms and drive-thrus to increase speed and service.
February 22, 2022 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
QSR design Is changing, with drive-thrus becoming more prominent and some brands, like Taco Bell, adding extra drive-thru lanes and smaller dining rooms as COVID changes the way diners consume food.
Del Taco recently opened Its Fresh Flex prototype in Orlando with a move toward technology.
QSRweb reached out to Mark Landini of Landini Associates which delivers multi-skilled works melding strategy, architecture, interior, graphic, product, furniture and digital design, via email to learn why and how QSR brands are rethinking designs in a modern world.
Landini Associates works across all sectors of retail and hospitality, and the firm is most globally renowned for their work in food. Clients include Loblaws (Canada), McDonald's (global), Marks and Spencers (UK), Walgreens (US), Esselunga (Italy), Emart (South Korea), ALDI (Australia and China), David Jones (Australia), and Selfridges (London), amongst many others.
Q. What are some common elements to today's QSR designs when it comes to color and design?
A. I won't comment on others' "style," but it's probably time to stop treating people like bees and magpies. We're not only attracted by bright colors and shiny surfaces.
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| McDonald's Pushkin Square |
Technology will have the most significant impact on the design of QSRs moving forward, but it's only started with ordering. Trials using kiosks and other interfaces have seen sales jump as customers are less pressured and more focused. On-sales, personalization and convenience can be increased, too, but the "less pressure" thing is not to be dismissed as just a POS thing. It's a QSR thing now, too.
Q.Explain the increasing deregulation of pavement usage for outdoor dining? Why is this important to brands?
A. You've really only got to visit Paris once to see why this makes sense. Climatically the same as London, the French have been using pavements for centuries as places of human gathering and display. Never underestimate the "display" bit. It's also safer outside now, too.
Q. Drive-thrus have become big business, with many new designs incorporating a second lane for mobile orders. What's new in drive-thrus?
A. More cars! Since the pandemic sales have migrated from 50/50 in-house versus drive-thru, to 20/80 and it's predicted to stay that way.
As such, the drive-thrus potential is changing exponentially. This is where the sales are coming from, and this is where the smart operators are investing. Landini Associates are working on a number of projects where we're looking to reinvent this model. It's an exciting challenge and is about more than just traffic management.
Sadly, many operators are hostage to their history with inefficient footprint, and buildings that are indistinguishable from their competitors. Using them as beacons is more important now than ever so they are recognized even before you're planning to eat.
Q. How important is ambience today? It is all about speed of service? How are restaurants rethinking their interiors?
A.Ambience has always been important, and finally QSR brands are realizing this. It's increasingly important to consider what, beyond the food, might entice a customer to choose your restaurant experience over a competitor. Sadly, too many interiors are aimed at the lowest common denominator with canteen-like food and people processing plants, ignoring the basics of what makes a human experience great. COVID-19 has simply re-intensified this investigation but décor changes only tickle the surface. The opportunity lies deeper than that.
Q. How has the pandemic changed the design of modern QSRs?
A. It hasn't much — yet. The tactical necessities that COVID-19 has imposed have slowed innovation, but it's beginning to regain momentum. The strategic opportunities are out there, but thus far have been largely embraced by other categories. The model needs a ground up review as the competition has changed to include all food retailers now.
Q. What's something that's being made obsolete as design moves forward?
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| Slims Quality Burger, Australia |
A. The "generic." Many QSRs — and let's face it, that's often an undeserved compliment — are still operating on outmoded belief systems about their customer's preferences; how to look and how to operate. Food spend is a broader opportunity now than it's ever been before, and QSRs are beginning to recognize this and are restructuring accordingly.
One important issue to consider deeply is how does your brand connect emotionally with customers who don't visit physically? As home consumption grows and delivery is increasingly implemented by third party businesses and platforms, QSR products can be made anywhere. Moving from a brand to a commodity is a dangerous transition and not in the brand's best interest. The opportunity is enormous and the answers are in front of us.
Q.What do QSRs often overlook when it comes to design?
A. That we're living through a technological revolution which will have an impact greater than perhaps we even imagine yet. Many innovations that could be driven by this are yet to be explored and realized. Many are still designing with blinkers on; starting from their history and a "well that's how we do stuff" attitude, forgetting that brand is an evolving feast. Too many conversations are thus inward looking, not outward to the future. Using a great external designer that's both experienced and a proven lateral thinker would help.
Q. Why are we seeing more brands refresh their looks today?
A. Pre-COVID-19 was a time of expansion, with many businesses entering new markets, but not yet embedded when it hit. Many of these brands are now beginning to look deeply at whether their pre-COVID models are as sharp as they could be. Things have changed, people have had time to reflect, and possibly realize that COVID-19 is not the only plague. There's been a generic one, too, casually sweeping the QSR world for a long time, and that's created a lazy calm. As a result, many brands are essentially the same: similar products; similar experiences and similar ways of thinking about distribution. But, COVID has affected our security and when that's threatened, we tend to act.
Q. How important are new prototypes to operations?
A.If you never experiment, you're unlikely to evolve and succeed. The most innovative brands test and test again non-stop. The world is changing in nanoseconds which is why we recommend the practice of what we call "reinventing normal." This starts with a review of whether yesterday's starting point should be used today? Amazon took 9,080 days to become the world's largest retailer. That's a "blink." Think about how many tests that took!
About Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.
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