Restaurant Chains See Possibility Of Delivery

By Brianna Ahearn, contributing writer

First came online ordering, followed by the mobile app and mobile ordering. The new frontier for fast food? Delivery. Reports of Dunkin Donuts testing delivery of their coffee and doughnuts shows that while restaurant chains are still investing in technology in store, they're also focusing on the convenience of delivery with technology, namely apps.

Dunkin Donuts is working on a new mobile ordering app, likely to compete with the popular Starbucks mobile ordering app, who recently expanded their mobile ordering service throughout the Pacific Northwest. Also available on the upcoming Dunkin Donuts app may be the ability to get doughnuts on demand to your office or doorstep. The Dunkin Donuts news was shared on CNBC's “On the Money,” in an interview with Dunkin Brands CEO Nigel Davis.

“Delivery is a clearly big opportunity,” David says in CNBC's video. "We're now developing mobile ordering. We're doing a private test. We'll move to a more public test later this year. We'll probably launch mobile ordering sometime next year."

There are over 8,000 Dunkin Donuts locations throughout the United States, and Davis cautions that the company won't rush the process in a bid to be the first coffee-and-doughnuts-delivery service. Dunkin Donuts already offers a mobile payment app.

“The key thing is we have to make sure we can operationalize all these procedures. That's why I've slowed up mobile ordering to make sure it's operationally simple at the store level,” Davis says.

Burritos, Coffee and More Via Postmates

Panera recently announced they would expand their delivery test to more stores. The popular cafe chain has tested delivery service in several markets such as Louisville, with both their own drivers and a third-party service. The third-party service model is the choice option for several restaurants, as lets the restaurant focus on doing what they do best: prepare the food for their customers. This model also eliminates the need to pay a driver, track mileage and gas amounts, and worry about traffic. The answer these restaurants are turning to? Postmates. Postmates an app for on-demand delivery courier service. The app finds independent contractors to deliver goods, including food and consumer products, when a user makes an order. Couriers are available on bicycle and motor vehicle, and users pay a standard fee for each delivery.

In May 2015, Chipolte announced they would use Postmates. The option is now available in 67 cities and Washington, D.C. Following suit, McDonalds is currently testing delivery in New York's Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens neighborhoods, and has also chosen  Postmates to deliver the orders. The service is so far available in 88 restaurants, and offers McDonald's entire menu for delivery within normal operating hours. Some locations also offer 24 hour delivery.

McDonalds only needs to actually prepare the food and give it to the Postmates user to take to its intended location. Is it working? One only needs to look at the report of Chipolte's Mark Crumpacker, who said the company saw a 30% month-over-month growth since offering delivery with Postmates.

Panera, Chiptole, and McDonalds don't face the same problems that a Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts location faces, however, in terms of delivery. They'll need to work out how to keep the customers' coffee hot and the cold drinks from melting too quickly. When the Dunkin Donuts app arrives later next year, they should have all of these issues worked out, which explains their deliberate process.