Highlights — TLDR

1. Early Adoption of Delivery Services: Chipotle introduced food delivery services early on, partnering with Deliveroo in 2018 and later adding Uber Eats.

2. Challenges in Scaling Delivery Operations: As delivery became a significant part of their business, Chipotle faced challenges with space constraints due to the need for multiple tablets for different delivery partners.

3. Integration with Deliverect: Implementing Deliverect solved space issues by integrating online orders directly into Chipotle’s point-of-sale system, eliminating the need for multiple tablets.

4. Results: Deliverect’s solution saved approximately 45 minutes per restaurant daily, streamlining operations significantly. Between January and September 2021, Chipotle saw an average order volume increase of 66.3% and revenue growth of 53% in locations using Deliverect.

5. Operational Simplification and Growth: The integration of Deliverect streamlined daily operations, making meal delivery an integrated part of the business and supporting Chipotle’s expansion plans.

Chipotle spices up its delivery operations.

Chipotle was founded in 1993 in Denver, Colorado, by chef Steve Ells, who went back home to open a restaurant and wanted to use classic cooking techniques while ensuring he was serving ethically sourced ingredients.

“The concept of Chipotle is food and integrity. It’s using ethically sourced ingredients, prepared with classic techniques, fresh every day.”

—Andrew Lawrence, IT Manager UK & Europe.

With its fast-casual concept, its mission around food and integrity, and its famous Chicken burrito, Chipotle quickly grew into the international chain we all know, active in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Germany. 

It expanded to Europe by coming to the UK in 2010 and opened more than five locations in the London area. The growth doesn’t stop there because they plan to open additional restaurants in the UK and further expand to France.

Scaling up delivery

Adapting to the fast-changing food sector and trying to satisfy consumer demand, Chipotle introduced food delivery with Deliveroo quite early in 2018.

And with delivery on the rise, they’ve added additional partners like Uber Eats in late 2020 and Eat in early 2021. Setting up a delivery operation allowed them to grow and expand their service. “Delivery is a significant part of the business now. Looking back to early 2021, it was around 80 to 85% of the business. Later into quarter 3, we’re down to about 50%, but still a very significant part,” explains Andrew. 

But taking the delivery step is not always easy and comes with its fair share of challenges. Chipotle’s main issue was balancing wanting to scale up their delivery service and struggling with space. “One of the problems we had was wanting to add additional delivery partners and not having enough space to add the additional tablets that we would need to add to do that,” says Andrew. And considering the number of delivery orders they deal with daily, it’s easy to understand how additional tablets can be problematic.

Growing while saving time and space

Working with Deliverect solved this issue and further simplified the process. Because their online orders are now integrated directly into their point-of-sale, Chipotle doesn’t have to fight for space and juggle between different tablets. “By adding Deliverect, we didn’t need additional tablets and could have all the orders printed in one location. Deliverect solved all our problems by allowing us to integrate into our point-of-sale,” continues Andrew. 

Not only did Deliverect help with space, but it also freed some time. Centralizing all the online orders allowed Chipotle staff not to rekey all the orders manually into the point-of-sale. And the impact on the business is vast! “It probably saves us 45 minutes per restaurant, per day.” shares Andrew.

All of this has helped Chipotle grow even faster.

Between January and September 2021, in all 5 locations recently using Deliverect, order volume increased by 66.3% on average, with a maximum of 92.3%. And it resulted in a moderate growth in revenue of 53%.

Ensuring customer satisfaction

Deliverect centralizes and synchronizes all Chipotle’s online orders directly into their point-of-sale, allowing them to have everything on hand on one screen. Such an overview provides a more manageable flow, which helps the business be more efficient. “Deliverect allows us to be more accurate with our orders. Having everything coming to a single point means it’s a lot easier to be consistent with the items you’re serving to the delivery,” explains Andrew.

Not only is the online order flow streamlined, but Deliverect also AhHelpedimplify menu management. An essential feature for Chipotle was the ability to quickly snooze items, which is crucial when dealing with fresh ingredients every day. “When running low at the end of the day, having the ability to snooze an item and remove it from delivery platforms helps ensure that customer experience is not impacted,” adds Andrew. Managing and syncing their menu with such ease was essential to Chipotle. With such a complex buildable menu, online delivery needed to stay true to the concept of customization. Working with Deliverect allowed Chipotle customers ordering online to enjoy the same experience and customize their order as if standing in line in the restaurant.

Since Chipotle has been using Deliverect in 1r restaurants, their daily operations are much simpler, and meal delivery is no longer a challenge but an integrated part of the business. That’s why Deliverect is implemented in all of their restaurants in the United Kingdom. With more space and time, they can easily focus on further expanding their services and heat their growth. “Working with Deliverect has been great for Chipotle’s business. It’s allowed us to add the additional delivery partners we wanted and increased the number of transactions we process”.