Ordering a flame-grilled Whopper from the Hamburger King drive-thru may be more fun in the months ahead.
Moms and dad business Dining establishment Brands (QSR) said Tuesday it will add digital drive-thrus to 10,000 Burger King areas in the U.S. and Canada by mid-2022. Burger King runs more than 18,675 around the world.
The business will follow in the footsteps of fast-food competitors McDonald’s (MCD) and Starbucks (SBUX) that have digitized their crucial drive-thrus over the last few years. Such efforts– which enable restaurant chains to show the weather on screens, quickly alter promos and provide new products on the fly depending on what’s selling well– are often viewed favorably by Wall Street. That’s especially crucial now as people flock to ordering food through drive-thrus throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anything to eke out more revenue in a competitive organization, right?
“The drive-thru business has been a huge focus throughout the pandemic. I think it has been a big part of our company for Burger King and Popeye’s for decades. We’ve seen it obviously be a really crucial development opportunity in the last seven or eight months,” Dining establishment Brands CEO Jose Cil told Yahoo Financing’s The First Trade.
Restaurant Brands shares fell 2% in today’s trading as financiers picked to pay more attention to third-quarter incomes out prior to the opening bell.
The company’s 3rd quarter combined same-store sales– that includes the efficiency of Burger King, Popeye’s, and Tim Horton’s fell 5.4% due to continuous difficulties from the coronavirus pandemic. Same-store sales at Popeye’s continued to be hot on the back of demand for its popular chicken sandwich– sales increased 17.4%. Same-store sales at Hamburger King and Tim Horton’s fell 7% and 12.5%, respectively.
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