The trend: The growth of digital QSR customers is driving chains to experiment with new store formats focused on speed and efficiency.

• McDonald’s opened a drive-thru-focused restaurant in Los Angeles with no traditional lobby, per Restaurant Business. The location includes food lockers for delivery orders and a dedicated window for mobile pickups.
• Pizza Hut is piloting a new format in Plano, Texas, that features self-service kiosks, contactless pickup cabinets, and a “Hut ’n Go” drive-thru offering “ready-now” items.

Inspiration from abroad: While the McDonald’s and Pizza Hut formats are new to the US, both incorporate elements from their international locations.

• While McDonald’s incorporates food lockers dedicated to delivery orders in some international markets, this is its first test in the US.
• Pizza Hut's concept is already operational in over 80 international markets, per parent company Yum Brands, which says the format boosts transactions and in-restaurant traffic compared with earlier formats.

Our take: Consumers increasingly see technology like digital kiosks as a way to explore more of a QSR's menu and order at their own pace, per Tillster’s April 2024 “Phygital Index Report.”

QSR formats need to evolve to keep pace with customers’ changing ordering and dining preferences.

Go further: Read “Data Drop: 5 Charts on Digital Dining Habits.”

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