Contactless Fulfillment: Food Lockers Reimagined by Michael L. Kasavana, Ph.D., CHTP, CFTP MSU/NAMA Professor, Emeritus IFBTA Education and Amy Fanale Sr. Product Manager Panasonic North America
Executive Summary The implementation of restaurant food lockers dates back several decades. Originally serving as holding boxes for prepared food awaiting customer pickup, they were restricted to only accept coin-based payments. From a foodservice perspective, food lockers offer restaurants an innovative contactless delivery mechanism, that can be temperature-controlled, and secured by an authorized bar code, QR code, or pin code. As a result, the historic concept of an automat could make a resurgence. With regard to the pandemic, restaurant takeout, curbside pickup, and delivery service options have significantly accelerated in an unprecedented way. Fast food chains, in particular, have been implementing food lockers as a contactless way to handoff food orders to customers while reducing congestion at the counter to pick up online orders and minimizing wait times, thereby creating better customer experiences. Foodservice customers have the option to place an order through a mobile or online app for convenient self-pick up at an ambient or temperature-controlled food locker. They can now plan ahead by placing their orders in advance and pick up at their convenience, with the assurance of food quality, safeguarding, and minimal staff contact. In essence, food locker technology provides customers a safe option to pick up orders at peak freshness and in a dedicated space. Food lockers have evolved from static resting areas to intelligent spaces capable of coordinating back of house production of digital orders, assigning security code identification, and maintaining product freshness. Only customers who have been issued a valid authorization code can access the locker which protects against theft or tampering. The food lockers can also serve as a secured, compartmentalized framework for arranging multiple orders for delivery service personnel. Using the pin codes to access the orders, drivers from delivery services are ready to make their deliveries. Food lockers can vary in terms of purpose and capability (hot or cold holding temperatures) they can also be equipped with stainless steel surfaces or UV lighting designed to remove harmful bacteria. While the locker concept is not a new idea, it has evolved into a sophisticated, technology-based method to improve efficiency, reduce wait times, contactless, and secure operations.
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Automat Background Many industry practitioners credit the automat as the birthplace of quick service restaurants. Begun in the early 1900s, the automat lunchroom was introduced by Horn & Hardart Company initially in Philadelphia and later in Times Square of New York City. Described as a coin-operated vending machine with row upon row of windowed compartments, the early structure more closely resembled glass-fronted post office boxes capable of holding individual menu items for pickup. Given that the windowed boxes were loaded with an assortment of menu items, consumers were able to select a product. In order to access the product a consumer had to insert the proper coinage (originally a nickel) to unlock the door. Once the door was open, the customer was able to remove and consume the selected item. Known as the Automat, the coin-operated food hall was seen as providing instant gratification so long as the proper payment was achieved. At the time, the design was considered an efficient delivery mechanism that revolutionized the foodservice industry and ensured payment prior to consumption. Similar to a vending machine, automats required payment security and efficient restocking. With production staff loading freshly produced products from the back of the boxes, diners were able to receive fresh and wholesome items. The speed and effective delivery of wholesome products satisfied a clientele interested in a quick meal without having to deal with waiters or complicated menus. Each menu item dispenser had a slot for one or more nickels, and a knob to rotate the coins to drop into an internal cash box that allowed the glass door to be raised and locked in a horizontal position for easy removal of the plated food item. The automat presented a simple and rapid access to prepared food items. Labeled as cafeterias, the automats featured freshly prepared foods behind small glass windows and coin-operated slots. As a customer removed a compartment's contents, a behind-the-machine worker quickly slipped another sandwich, salad, or slice into the open chamber. The self-service restaurants operated successfully in the city for nearly a century. During the 1940s and the 1950s, more than fifty New York Horn & Hardart restaurants served 350,000 customers a day. At its peak, Horn & Hardart was the world’s largest restaurant chain, feeding hundreds of thousands every day in more than eighty locations in New York City and Philadelphia.
Source: Horn & Hardart Automat (mercari.com)
The restaurant chain remained popular into the 1960s, featuring not only automats but sit-down waitress service restaurants, cafeterias, and bakery shops. In the late 1960s, consultants attempted to develop automats with interior decoration relevant to surrounding neighborhoods; thus, the Automat on 14th Street was decorated with psychedelic posters. The eateries began to close with the rise of fast-food
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restaurants, served over the counter and with more payment flexibility than traditional automats. By the mid-1970s, at most locations, customers lost interest in ready-made food items.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
What led to the end of an early era was the fact that food costs were rising that pushed selling prices beyond simple coinage multiples. The configuration was not capable of accepting any other form of payment and the efficiency advantage the automat once held was no longer achievable. As a result, food quality declined, sales plunged, and in 1992 the glass doors of the last Horn & Hardart Automat permanently closed.
Evolution Restaurant customer expectations changed as a result of the pandemic. Eateries took on the burden to provide an efficient and contactless pickup experience through off-premises digital ordering and settlement. Operators are now able to assign food locker access via an order code (bar code, QR code, or PIN code) authorization sent to customers via text messaging, email, or social media. The lockers are temperature-controlled and often unlock via an app or with a pin code. One supplier describes his company’s system this way, “The locker goes from red, when your order is in, to yellow, which means two minutes out, to green, when you scan your phone on a keypad, the locker opens, and you take your food and go.” Another food locker provider focuses on the direct notification method by sending the customer an SMS message once an order is loaded into the locker. This message provides confirmation of the location for their order, both a pin code and QR code to retrieve it, a QR code if they are not comfortable engaging with the touch screen, and a survey link to get instantaneous feedback from customers on their experience. Additionally, each brand can set standards for hold times. When an order is not retrieved prior to the expiration time limit, another SMS notification is sent to the customer with the restaurant’s phone number for resolution. This allows the foodservice operator to maintain the control of the quality of their product that they are willing to serve to their guests and reduce the risk of food bourne illnesses. Hence advantages include customer convenience, reduced wait times, and minimal interactivity. Simply stated, food lockers present a reliable, contactless way to collect food orders. High-tech smart lockers provide a convenient, secure, and touch-free option to customers desiring off-premises consumption. By installing smart lockers, a restaurant can create dedicated and secure space for order retrieval at peak freshness while streamlining traditional ordering ques and
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increasing staff efficiency. Modern food lockers are designed for holding pick-up, third-party delivery, and to-go orders at a desired temperature. Contactless smart food lockers enable secure access, heat/cold preservation, stainless steel or UV disinfection, and improved customer experiences.
How It Works A smart food locker procedure typically involves three simple steps. A customer places an order via POS, kiosk, or mobile device. In turn, orders created on or off-premises are passed to the POS. All orders are coded upon receipt. The order will then appear on a kitchen display unit or printed on a kitchen printer. Once the order is produced and packaged, the order code is used to record and communicate the locker assignment. In some systems, the compartment will light up when an order is placed inside it. Once placed inside the locker, notification of the code and locker location is sent to the customer. Upon arrival, the customer is able to bypass any wait line and scans or inputs the code into the locker keypad or alternate controlling mechanism. The compartment holding the order opens and enables the customer to retrieve the item.
Source: us.panasonic.com/us/smart-locker
It is important to note that in advanced applications, the smart locker software integrates with the restaurant’s POS system, and possibly third-party network, which processes the order and notifies the customer of order status and secure access coding via text messaging, email, mobile app, or social media. As soon as a customer is alerted that an order is ready, it can be retrieved at the customer’s convenience thereby eliminating bottlenecks or overcrowding at the point of pickup.
Locker Characteristics While locker configuration and cabinetry can vary greatly, there are several characteristics to be considered, including:
Order Placement
Kiosk/Tablet – in-house self-order customer placement
POS – in-house point of sale system
Digital – off-premises (online or mobile) integration to POS system
Temperature Controls
Heated – maintaining hot food at a warm holding temperature (to 145 ˚F)
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Cooled – maintaining cold food at a refrigerated holding temperature (to 37˚ F)
Ambient – combination space that accommodates hot and cold food items
Production Timing
Auto-tracking – monitors approximate pickup for finished orders
Prescheduling tracking – efficient order ahead scheduling
Real time tracking – optimize utilization of pickup placement and collection
Space Conditioning
UVC Lights – locker with auto-applied sanitization following each sale
Contactless Pickup – minimal interaction between customer and staff
LED Lighting – to reflect on cleanliness and promotional concepts
Security/Accessibility
Code accessibility – bar coding, QR coding, or PIN coding
Order numbering – locker assignment based on order placement/identification
Data Analytics
Transaction – individual sales and customer loyalty tracking
Aggregation - real time data capture by day part or beyond
Design
Modular –vertical or horizontal stacked rectangular boxes
Custom – an arrangement of varying sizes and dimensions
Location
In store – mounted configuration of rectangular holding/flow boxes
Drive through – waiting area with assigned location pickup
Interior/Exterior – loaded from the inside by staff, retrieved by customer without needing to enter the building
Stocking
Front load – banked food lockers are anchored to a wall location
Rear load – food locker is accessible for backend loading
Double sided – enables front and back loading
Advantages Advanced technology can provide visibility into actionable data and timely metrics leading to improved productivity and profitability. Benefits include no line, no wait, no contact order pickup that improves restaurant throughput.
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Not only can smart food lockers improve the customer experience and promote social distancing, they can also reduce food preparation timing as well as order sorting and customer alerts. Production can be followed by packaging, placing, and securing each prepaid order for pickup.
Since the lockers are temperature-controlled and insulated they can be adjusted to accommodate refrigerated or heated items thereby ensuring orders remain wholesome and fresh.
Source: brooklyndumplingshop.com
Summary Smart locker technology provides customers with an easy and secure method to pick up freshly prepared orders for off-premises consumption. The expectation is that the food locker concept may soon be expanded to residential and office buildings, sport and entertainment venues and shopping malls. They are already appearing on college and university campuses, with c-stores and grocery stores in discussions to install them soon.
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Appendix A
NYC Restaurant’s Reopening Will Include Changes Like Masks, Food Lockers by Jennifer Gould New York Post nypost.com
The lengthy coronavirus lockdowns will force New York City’s restaurateurs to pivot when they finally start to welcome customers — and some pivots will be sharper than others.
Stratis Morfogen, founder of Philippe Chow and co-founder of the Brooklyn Chop House, was gearing up to open his new concept, Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, in the East Village just before COVID-19 hit.
The 500-square-foot space at St. Marks Place and First Avenue, a 24/7 operation featuring 32 kinds of dumplings including peanut butter and jam, matzo ball soup, and wonton with vanilla ice cream, was originally planning to offer a Shake Shack-style pickup counter and limited seating.
Two weeks into lockdown, however, Morfogen changed almost everything. The shop — now slated to open in July — vows zero human interaction. Instead of a server behind a counter, patrons will be greeted by an 11-foot-high wall of lockers, which will contain orders of steaming hot dumplings.
“When restaurants reopen, nobody is going to be saying, ‘Do you feel like Chinese or Italian tonight?’” Morfogen told Side Dish. “It will be, ‘Where do you feel safest?’”
Restaurants planning summer openings and reopening’s are introducing disposable masks and menus, taking customers’ temperatures, and pressing the city for more leeway to serve diners outdoors.
But in the case of Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, hungry guests will get a high-tech experience that’s pointedly lacking when it comes to the human touch.
The front of the shop will be staffed by a single greeter wearing a face covering and gloves, of course, who will beckon customers through a device that’s able to scan body temperatures.
If a patron draws a red light instead of a green one, it could mean they have a fever — or perhaps that they were holding a cup of hot coffee. For a final verdict, the greeter leads the customer to a wall unit that takes wrist temperatures. If the second reading lands in the red zone, sorry, no dumplings, according to Morfogen.
Only two customers will be allowed into the shop at a time (versus a planned capacity of 10 for the earlier design). Once inside, customers who haven’t already ordered from their phones can visit one of two wiped-down self-ordering kiosks.
The kiosks are equipped with heat-sensing screens that can detect fingers and credit cards hovering above them and which don’t need to be touched. Once finished waving their fingers and credit card over them, customers finally come face-to-face with the wall of lockers.
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Source: Brooklyn Dumpling Shop
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