Food Service Industry Strengthens Contactless Services to Respond to COVID-19

Fear of COVID-19 Infection Leads to Avoidance of In-Person Services
Domino's Pizza, Starbucks, Tom N Toms, and Others Expand Contactless Delivery

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] The food service industry is expanding contactless services for consumers who are reluctant to have face-to-face contact with delivery workers due to concerns about the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). This format allows customers to complete ordering, payment, and product receipt all at once without visiting the store.

On the 22nd, Domino's Pizza announced that it has strengthened its 'contactless safe delivery service' in response to the spread of COVID-19 and the demand from customers avoiding face-to-face contact.

As the COVID-19 situation recently affected all aspects of daily life, the proportion of 'prepayment' in Domino's Pizza online orders has risen to 65%, indicating an increasing demand for 'contactless' services that avoid face-to-face contact. Accordingly, Domino's Pizza has been enhancing its contactless safe delivery service since the 11th.

When delivery customers select 'prepayment' among Domino's Pizza payment methods and choose 'Please leave it at the door' in the request section, they can receive their pizza without face-to-face interaction with the delivery person.

Additionally, Domino's Pizza has newly added a 'contactless safe delivery' option under the request section during online payment to further strengthen the safe delivery service. When selecting the contactless safe delivery service, the pizza is delivered to the customer's door, and the customer is notified of the pizza's arrival via a contact call. Contactless safe delivery accounts for about 30% of all online orders.

In the case of Starbucks Coffee Korea, the number of orders placed without leaving the vehicle at drive-thru stores increased by 32% in January and February compared to the same period last year.

The number of orders through My DT Pass, a system that automatically charges the pre-registered Starbucks card linked to the customer's registered vehicle information without presenting a payment method, also increased by 30% in the first two months of this year compared to the same period last year. Currently, orders through My DT Pass account for about 40% of all drive-thru vehicle orders.

Starbucks' drive-thru stores are equipped with seating areas like regular stores and allow customers to order drinks without leaving their vehicles through the drive-thru ordering space. Upon arrival at the store, customers can place orders directly with partners via a video order smart panel or quickly and conveniently order using the mobile app order service Siren Order and My DT Pass.

The number of Siren Order orders, Starbucks' representative untact (contactless) ordering service, also exceeded 8 million from January to February this year, a 25% increase compared to the same period last year. Siren Order, which surpassed 100 million cumulative orders last year, accounted for about 22% of total orders as of February this year.

Tom N Toms operates delivery services using its official application My Tom and various delivery apps. Through strategic partnerships with delivery app companies such as 'Baedal Minjok' and the official app My Tom, delivery services are provided. Delivery services are available at some directly operated and franchise stores, and customers can check the nearest delivery store based on their location and place orders through the My Tom app or delivery apps.

If planning to visit a store, customers can also use the pre-order service Smart Order, which allows menu pickup without waiting. Through the Smart Order feature in the My Tom app, customers can select a nearby Tom N Toms store, place orders, and make payments in a contactless system, reducing order waiting and menu preparation time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.