How the rise of mobile ordering is transforming fast-casual food in the Philly area
About two-thirds of U.S. consumers have used mobile ordering. Some companies are getting creative with how they accommodate the customer demand while still creating an enjoyable in-person experience.
Mobile orders are as much of a staple of Jessica Reilly’s morning routine as school drop-off or her hourlong commute to the office.
Every weekday, she goes onto her Dunkin’ or Starbucks app, orders an iced caramel coffee and a breakfast wrap, and then picks it up in the drive-through lane, often waiting 10 minutes for customers in front of her to order.
“It’s not like I’m saving any time whatsoever,” said Reilly, a 33-year-old marketing coordinator who lives in Fishtown. “But I don’t like going inside.”
She doesn’t want to get out of her car or get back into it smelling like coffee, she said.
It’s a habit she can’t break, like her reliance on online grocery ordering through the ShopRite app or buying items in a couple clicks for two-hour pickup at Target.
“It’s just easier than making something at home,” she said of mobile-ordering her morning pick-me-up. “We’re running out the door every day.”
Reilly is among the nearly two-thirds of U.S. consumers who have used mobile apps to order food for takeout or delivery, according to a September Consumer Food Insights Report from Purdue University.
Over the past decade, the technology has taken the fast-casual world by storm, with national chains and Philly-area companies rolling it out and offering rewards for app users.
Since Wawa launched the technology in 2017, its popularity has grown 20-fold, with thousands of mobile orders being placed a day, according to spokesperson Lori Bruce. Rita’s Italian Ice introduced mobile ordering at some locations last year, spokesperson Abby Zweigle said, and by this summer, all Rita’s locations will offer customers the option.
Mobile ordering has become the go-to method for a growing number of Dunkin’ customers since the company debuted it in 2016, according to a spokesperson.
And while Starbucks is trying to revert to its neighborhood-coffee-house roots as part of a new CEO’s overhaul strategy, the chain still has two pick-up-only locations in the Philadelphia region, one at 17th and Chestnut Streets and another in Springfield, Delaware County, according to its website.
Since 2021, Chick-fil-A has been introducing “mobile thru” lanes, drive-through lanes exclusively for mobile orders. More than 300 locations nationwide have the technology.
A Chick-fil-A in Cherry Hill closed in January, and said on its Facebook page that it’s undergoing a remodel to better serve drive-through and mobile-order customers. A company spokesperson declined to say whether the store will start “mobile thru” when it reopens, expected in April.
It’s easy to see why the mobile order is appealing to some tech-savvy customers. It allows them to order from home, skip the line at the store, grab their prepaid order, and get on with their day. At some places, like those remodeled Chick-fil-As, customers can even pick up their orders without getting out of their cars, by either rolling through the drive-through or requesting curbside delivery.
Consumers sometimes use mobile orders because they’re traveling with a child or pet, or they are just in a rush. Others do it for the instant gratification.
“It’s convenience culture,” said Matt Gargano, owner of Hallowed Grounds Coffee Co., which opened its Merchantville shop in May and added mobile ordering through the Joe app in November.
Gargano originally wanted Hallowed Grounds to be a drive-through-only business, he said, for both mobile-ordering and spur-of-the-moment trips, but his current space doesn’t allow it. He believes a drive-through would bring in more customers, he said. Already, mobile ordering has boosted business, he said, attracting customers who want to skip the line, especially on busy weekend mornings.
Like any point-of-sale system, the mobile-ordering platform costs Gargano a processing fee and a few extra cents per order, charges that he said he refuses to pass on to customers. But it’s a worthwhile investment, he said, as the system allows him to expand his email list, keeping the shop top-of-mind for some customers who would otherwise be one-time visitors.
And, he said, mobile ordering has not affected wait times for customers who are ordering in person.
Some business owners feel torn between two imperatives: offering mobile ordering and providing quick service to customers who want a more traditional tech-free experience.
“We need to refine mobile order and pay, so it doesn’t overwhelm the café experience,” Starbucks chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said in prepared remarks at the end of last year.
Niccol has said Starbucks plans to remodel stores to better separate mobile orders from the café experience, and to provide more seating.
Other companies like Wawa said they will continue to embrace technology but don’t foresee going to a full mobile-order-only experience. Said spokesperson Bruce: “We want to provide a customer experience that combines technology and the personal connection that makes Wawa so special.”