Little Caesars Pizza Portal opens door to ‘people-less’ QSR experience
Little Caesars this week announced it’s testing a new tech that basically melds mobile ordering, automatic pick-up and vending to create a new way for customers to order and retrieve food without any potentially time-sucking human interaction through its new Reserve-N-Ready service.
A news release said the “breakthrough” service model relies on a proprietary dispensing device the brand calls a Pizza Portal, which the chain’s leadership said is a first for both pizza and QSR concepts in general.
The portal is the world’s first heated self-service mobile order pick-up station that allows customers to have their orders in hand minutes after ordering and seconds after entering the store. It accomplishes this by combining quick-service functioning with mobile ordering, pre-payment and heated self-serve pick-up stations. Tests now taking place in a number of markets will be expanded later this year, according to the release.
Here’s how the new system works:
- Order placed and paid via Little Caesars mobile app.
- App notifies customer when order is ready for pick-up.
- Customer heads to store and enters PIN or QSR code to release door on personal Pizza Portal compartment.
- Pizza Portal secured compartment door opens and customer retrieves order and leaves.
“The genuine purpose behind integrating advanced technology into our stores is all about improving the customer experience, and building on our convenience and quality,” Little Caesars President and CEO David Scrivano said in the release. “We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to mesh mobile with our Hot-N-Ready model.”
The proprietary tech behind the portal was co-developed with automated dispensing system producer, Apex Supply Chain Technologies.
