Taco Bell is Launching a Mobile-Focused, Double Drive-Thru Model to Appeal to Changing Consumer Demand

Taco Bell is launching a new restaurant concept called Taco Bell Go Mobile that is designed specifically for diners to order ahead through the chain's mobile app, the company announced in a press release Thursday.

Two company-owned Go Mobile locations will open in Q1 2021, Taco Bell Global Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams told CNBC.

Taco Bell Go Mobile locations will include one traditional drive-thru lane and a priority pickup drive-thru lane that quickly services customers who order through the Taco Bell app. Smart kitchen technology that integrates with the chain's app will recognize when a diner has arrived at the restaurant and will guide them to either the priority drive-thru lane or designated parking spaces for contactless curbside pickup, depending on which is faster. The model will include tablet ordering at both its drive-thrus and curbside pickup operated by team members known as "bellhops." Inside, the store will feature shelves for digital order pickup. 

This launch comes amid changing consumer behavior in response to dining room closures and municipal social distancing mandates. Surging use of drive-thru lanes, online ordering and delivery in recent months has pressured operations across the QSR segment. In Taco Bell’s second quarter, it served an additional 4.8 million cars through drive-thru lanes compared with a year earlier, even as its same-store sales declined 8%.

"With demand for our drive-thru at an all-time high, we know adapting to meet our consumers rapidly changing needs has never been more important," Grams said in the release. "The Taco Bell Go Mobile restaurant concept is not only an evolved physical footprint, but a completely synchronized digital experience centered around streamlining guest access points."

Taco Bell is currently developing ways to convert existing restaurants to the new design and will help franchisees build their own, Grams told CNBC, and will also add the concept's technology to urban restaurants and Cantinas. Go Mobile restaurants will be 1,325 square feet compared to standard Taco Bell locations, which average at 2,500 square feet.

Taco Bell's new concept also builds on Taco Bell Rewards, the updated loyalty program it launched on its mobile app nationwide last month, which allows diners to customize their orders. At Go Mobile locations, mobile customers will be able to select how they wish to collect their orders, too. If diners pick Taco Bell's suggested path to pickup, they will earn more loyalty points.

Taco Bell is one of several major QSR chains looking to better adapt to pandemic conditions through restaurant remodels. Shake Shack announced in May that it will remodel some restaurants to a "Shack Track" model that includes drive-thru lanes and walkup windows, and Chipotle plans to pivot its entire portfolio to its mobile-drive thru Chipotlane formats.