Restaurant Roundup: Sweetgreen to Open Drive-Thru Location; McDonald’s Drives Mobile Orders With in-App Exclusives

Since the start of the pandemic, restaurants that never thought they would open drive-thru locations have been changing course in response to widespread demand for the channel. Fast-casual burger brand Shake Shack and pretzel chain Auntie Anne’s are among those that have made moves into the space in the past year.

Now, Sweetgreen is getting on board. The salad chain announced Wednesday (March 23) that it will open a “sweetlane” drive-thru location in Schaumburg, Illinois, within the next year.

“We are always innovating to provide more convenience for our customers, which is why we’re excited about our first sweetlane concept in Schaumburg,” Sweetgreen Co-Founder and Chief Concept Officer Nicolas Jammet said in a press release. “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.”

According to data from PYMNTS’ new Restaurant Friction Index, created collaboration with Paytronix, which drew from a survey of more than 500 managers of quick-service and full-service restaurants, about half of all restaurants offer the ability to pick up orders at the drive-thru.

Read more: New Data Show Digital Loyalty Programs Are Key Differentiator for Top-Performing Restaurants

Plus, the study also drew from the results of a survey of a census-balanced panel of more than 2,100 U.S. consumers, and 35% of these consumers said they would be more inclined to shop with restaurants that offer drive-thru pickup. Moreover, 18% of the restaurants that do not offer drive-thru pickup said they intend to add the feature in the future.

Voice Ordering to Come to Consumers’ Cars

Three months after North Palm Beach, Florida-based fast-casual chain BurgerFi announced that it will be launching in-car ordering in 5G-enabled cars in partnership with in-vehicle commerce company Mavi.io, Mavi.io announced Thursday (March 24) that it has secured a $1.775 million investment to bring the technology to life.

“Drivers love the convenience of curbside pickup, and they want to be able to shop from their cars safely and efficiently in order to make the most of each trip,” said Mavi.io  CEO and Co-Founder Cynthia Hollen in a press release. “… For retailers and service providers, MAVI’s in-car marketplace brings customers back to their store doors and drives new customer acquisition, sales and loyalty, ensuring they can meet their on-the-go customers’ needs for immediacy and convenience.”

Research from PYMNTS’ 2021 How We Eat Playbook, created in collaboration with Carat from Fiserv, which drew from a survey of a census-balanced panel of more than 5,200 U.S. consumers, found that 20% of consumers said they are “very” or “extremely” interested in using their voices to buy food and groceries. Plus, the study revealed that consumers who have shifted to ordering food and groceries online more often than they did pre-pandemic are more than twice as likely to express interest in using voice commerce technology going forward.

See more: 182M Consumers Now Use Digital Channels to Shop and Pay for Food

Voice commerce for restaurant orders can be complex from a technological perspective. In a December interview with PYMNTS, Fiserv Vice President of Global Digital Commerce Scott Mackay noted that with all the additions, substitutions and individual requests that come with a restaurant order, these purchases can be more difficult to process than buying a single, non-variable item.

Read more: Restaurants, Grocers Embrace Voice, Contextual Commerce to Thrive in an Omnichannel World

“We found that in voice commerce, the simple, repeat orders are some of the easiest … but restaurant orders can be somewhat challenging when you go beyond the simple coffee orders and those kinds of things,” he said.

McDonald’s Leverages Szechuan Sauce to Drive Mobile Adoption

When it comes to getting consumers to register for and engage with its mobile offerings, McDonald’s just played its ace in the hole. The quick-service restaurant (QSR) giant announced Monday (March 21) the surprise return of its highly in-demand Szechuan Sauce as an exclusive offer for those ordering through the brand’s app.

Buzzy menu items play a large role in McDonald’s strategy to drive digital adoption.

“Our MCD pillars continue to drive U.S. comps as strong marketing efforts behind McRib and the Crispy Chicken Sandwich were complemented with digital adoption by our customers,” McDonald’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ozan told analysts on an earnings call in late January. “Digital growth remains a key driver of success in the U.S. Our loyalty program continues to build with digital sales growing month over month.”

Findings from PYMNTS and Paytronix’s January study, “The Digital Divide Report: Minding the Loyalty Gap,” which drew from a survey of more than 2,400 U.S. adults, revealed that 61% of respondents had earned loyalty rewards for their spending in the previous 30 days, and the majority of QSR loyalty members earned their rewards via the brand’s mobile app.

See more: Restaurants Compete to Make Loyalty Programs Stand out as Consumers Join Multiple Programs