More burrito lovers are going digital to order and pay at Chipotle Mexican Grill. In the last few years, the fast-casual dining shop has doubled down on technology solutions to drive company growth. Chipotle expanded its channels for drive-through, pick-up, and delivery, making ordering easy via its multi-featured mobile app.
This strategy served it well during the pandemic in 2020 when most indoor dining was prohibited. Chipotle even opened a digital-only store without any tables—just accepting take-out and delivery orders. Now post-pandemic, indoor dining is returning, and the lunchtime crowd is coming back as well. Hope they don’t run out of guacamole.
The following excerpt from a Barron’s article reports more on the topic:
Chipotle Mexican Grill is rising late Tuesday, as the burrito chain turned in an upbeat fiscal second quarter. Its chief financial officer says he is optimistic about the company’s strengths as he looks forward to a post-pandemic world.
CFO Jack Hartung spoke with Barron’s following the results, saying that he is most proud of Chipotle’s ability to maintain high digital sales even as restaurant dining rooms reopened. He notes that the comparable sales gain was largely driven by the return of indoor dining, and that Chipotle is seeing strong business in urban locations, during lunchtime hours in many locations, and daily Monday through Friday.
While the Delta variant of Covid-19 remains a challenge, he says that “what we had hoped what happened is happening—we’re holding onto these digital transactions while people’s previous habits are returning when they feel comfortable going out and about.”
He also highlighted the company’s growth of Chipotlanes, providing “customers with the channels that they want.” The pandemic introduced many diners to new ways to enjoy the brand, and recent results show that they continue to prize flexibility.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Director, Merchant Services at Mercator Advisory Group
