How Will Taco Bell Manage Door-Delivery For Food That Needs To Be ‘Consumed Immediately After Preparation’?
Earlier this month Taco Bell announced that it would start a “delivery service” of its food. However, the company has yet to figure out, let alone perfect, the art of delivering food.
Taco Bell is testing a delivery service for when you need tacos but don't want to wear shoes. http://t.co/ucpazZ6akc pic.twitter.com/BCE3LXBZGM
— IndyStar (@indystar) April 8, 2015
As a clear indication of trying to catch up to popular fast food companies, Taco Bell has finally, perhaps reluctantly, included a home delivery service to its line of offerings to the public. The company has always been against home delivery service and rightly so.
.@TacoBell delivered to your doorstep. Taco bout a game changer!http://t.co/yZDlhMDv3P pic.twitter.com/1blLW5iyZt
— IGN (@IGN) April 9, 2015
Majority of Taco Bell’s menu items are best eaten immediately upon their preparation. However, it has been obvious for quite some time; home-delivery, the ability to order food by simple making a call or pressing a few buttons on the smartphone, is the future of fast-food business.
Taco Bell has heard your prayers and they're working on a delivery service to dethrone the pizza empire. #Blessed. http://t.co/itlFdKbJMH
— Complex (@Complex) April 8, 2015
Taco Bell’s CEO Brian Niccol is aware of the hurdles and hence hasn’t announced a concrete date they will start home-delivery,
“Even though it’s the No. 1 request from consumers, we have to make sure we can give them an experience that’s consistent with Taco Bell, and that’s what we’re working through. We have to figure it out, and I can tell you right now we don’t have it figured out.”
The CEO wants Taco Bell to be an “on-demand brand,” and that makes perfect sense, but the challenge to maintain the texture and consistency of the food that Taco Bell usually serves is quite intense. Incidentally, till date, except the pizza restaurants, virtually none of the other fast food companies have quite figured out or perfected the art of ensuring the food that’s delivered to the door-step tastes the same as when eaten in the restaurant.
But in order to survive the competition and thrive, Taco Bell will have to adapt, shared the CEO:
“We have to make sure we can give them an experience that’s consistent with Taco Bell. We have to figure it out and I can tell you right now we don’t have it figured out. We are positioning ourselves for clock-less eating. Technology is changing the way people interact with restaurants and retail. We have the appeal to the taste and spirit of Millennials – who want access to anything they want, when they want.”
Fast food companies have been offering home-delivery since ages. Moreover, technology has allowed people to order not just on their phone, but even by speaking to a gaming console. Making it ever easier to order food is perhaps the best way to enhance consumer base and keep the present one hooked.
Though Taco Bell might not have figured out how, its willingness to stay with the times, might allow for newer innovations in fast food delivery.
Bonus: Huffington Post has an interesting take on the subject:
[Image Credit | David Paul Morris/Bloomberg, Huffington Post]
