What If Your Next Burrito Was Made By A Robot?

What If Your Next Burrito Was Made By A Robot?

by | Sep 17, 2024 | AI, Technology and Tools

Image Source: Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket (Getty Images)

Will AI-Powered Robots Revolutionize Or Ruin The Restaurant Industry?

Imagine walking into your local Chipotle and, instead of seeing a human behind the counter, you’re greeted by a sleek robotic arm expertly slicing avocados. As you watch in amazement, another machine precisely assembles your burrito bowl. Is this a scene from a sci-fi movie, or the future of fast food?

This futuristic scenario is closer to reality than you might think. Chipotle, the popular Mexican grill chain, is taking a bold step into the world of automation with two new robotic assistants. But what does this mean for your favorite burrito joint, and more importantly, for your dining experience?

Meet the New ‘Employees’: Autocado and Augmented Makeline

Chipotle has introduced two AI robots in its California locations, as reported by Quartz:

  1. Autocado: This avocado-processing marvel can “process one avocado” in just 26 seconds, according to Chipotle. With the company expecting to use “5.18 million cases of avocados this year,” Autocado could revolutionize their food preparation process.
  2. Augmented Makeline: This robot is designed to build bowls and salads. Chipotle states that “roughly 65% of digital orders today are either bowls or salads,” making this robot a potential game-changer for order fulfillment.

The Promise of Robotic Precision

But why robots? Curt Garner, Chipotle’s chief customer and technology officer, believes these machines could help build “a stronger operational engine.” The potential benefits are intriguing:

  • Consistency: Remember the social media outcry about Chipotle’s shrinking portion sizes? Quartz reports that former Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol hinted Autocado would help give customers “more consistent portion sizes.”
  • Efficiency: Faster food preparation could mean shorter wait times, even during the lunch rush.
  • Hygiene: In our post-pandemic world, less human contact with food ingredients might be appealing to many customers.

The Human Touch vs. Robotic Precision

However, this robotic revolution isn’t without challenges. Quartz points out that a previous Chipotle robot experiment, “Chippy,” turned out to be “too cumbersome” to clean. This raises questions about the practicality of maintaining these high-tech helpers.

Moreover, there’s an elephant in the room: jobs. While Chipotle hasn’t explicitly stated any intention to replace human workers, the article notes that “similar to McDonald’s approach to introduce more digital kiosks, Chipotle’s robotic bet might lead to lost jobs.”

The Bigger Picture: Robots and Customer Experience

As we stand at this technological crossroads, questions abound. Will robots enhance or diminish your Chipotle experience? Can machines replicate the human touch that has always been a part of our dining experiences? And perhaps most importantly, are you ready for your next burrito to be made by a robot?

One thing is certain: the fast food landscape is changing. As we navigate this brave new world of dining, finding the right balance between innovation and tradition will be key. The future of fast food is here, and it’s serving up a side of technology with your tacos.

Yelp & SMS Turn Restaurants Experiences From Mediocre To Great

Yelp & SMS Turn Restaurants Experiences From Mediocre To Great

by | Feb 28, 2019 | Company Culture & Employees, Digital, Mobile & UX

How many times have you visited restaurants that do not accept reservations and felt frustrated about the wait time? If you’re like me, it is too many to count.

While many companies tend to focus on customer experiences at the point people are actually using products and receiving services, brand perception and customer judgments occur much earlier in the customer journey. People don’t care if there are internal company process challenges. If it is not easy to interact with brands and get service in the way they expect, customers will go elsewhere.

Leverage Technology To Save Customers Time

With the advent of mobile applications like Yelp, companies can improve customer experiences and proactively address common customer pain points BEFORE they occur. My recent restaurant experience provides a great example of this.

Egan & Sons does not take reservations. However, they told me when I called that I could save time using Yelp. The app displays an estimated wait time to help in deciding whether to go to the restaurant and a choice to “check-in” to join the waitlist before driving to the restaurant. Having never seen this before, and always looking to save time, I was delighted to have this option.

 

Make the Customer Journey Easy

After filling out the Yelp online form, the app displayed how many parties were ahead of me. That information helped me determine when to drive to the restaurant. While there was only one other person joining me for dinner, I did notice a useful feature within the app to share the wait time with others. I like that capability and overall usability. Moreover, I noticed how easy and pleasant my dining experience felt before I even sat down to eat.

Just before I arrived at the restaurant, I received an SMS text to my phone informing me that my table was ready and I should check-in with the host.  Within minutes, I was seated and ordering my dinner. Though my story pertains to restaurants specifically, there are key lessons about DoingCXRight that apply to all companies and industries.

 

More Doing CX Right Best Practices

 

Communication is an Important Driver of Customer Satisfaction

I really liked knowing how long my wait time was via the app and receiving a text notification that my table was ready.

Level of Effort is a Great Measurement of Customer Experience

It was EASY for me to request and get a table despite a large crowd. Without technology (both SMS and Yelp) I would have missed out on a great restaurant experience. And the restaurant would have missed out on my business. While I didn’t use the feature, the app allows people the option

Employees Must Deliver on Promises

Based on the SMS text I received, I had an expectation to be seated right away. Upon my arrival, the host followed through without any wait creating a satisfying, wow moment.

Personalization Improves Customer Experiences

The app knew it was my first time checking in and provided me relevant content. It showed “check out reviews while you wait” along with food recommendations from past visitors.  This is a great idea, especially because the restaurant has four stars and over 300 reviews.

restaurant cx

 

Read More About How To Turn Mistakes Into Positive Experiences at restaurants and other service establishments.