KFC goes contactless with takeaways and direct service to your bike and car

The fast-food giant attempts to lure customers to/near its outlet with zero-contact offerings as dine-ins won't make a comeback soon.

These are tough times for everyone, including the restaurant and fast food industry. The four successive lockdowns to contain the spread of COVID-19 have hit businesses hard. For starters, all restaurants are shut, and nobody knows when they will open their shutters again.

Many restaurants have only opened their shutter to the likes of Swiggy and Zomato, which pick up the food and then deliver it to the customer’s doorstep.

KFC, one of India's most popular fast food chains, also provides home delivery. Now, in lockdown 4.0, it has taken a step further, and offers contactless takeaways and direct service to you in your bike/car.

'Contactless' has become the buzzword during lockdown, and for good reason. Public health authorities have repeatedly stressed on social distancing to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.

In a press release, Moksh Chopra, chief marketing officer, KFC India, talked about contactless takeaway. "It comes backed with our 4X safety promise – of sanitisation, social distancing, screening (of temperature), and contactless service. Through the use of the KFC app, or website, and digital payments, this service is easy, quick and completely contactless.”

All you need to do is use the KFC app, website, or mobile site to place an order and a preferred pick-up time. Then, the customer needs to visit the dedicated takeaway counter and stand in line as per social distancing norms and collect the order.

But, for some customers, the chicken that he ordered may lose its 'sizzle', by the time he reaches home, leaving him wanting for more.

That's where the 'KFC to Your Car or Bike' comes into the picture. The brand says it's the 'first of its kind' in India and an extension of its contactless program. The new service is being launched at select KFC restaurants across cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, among others.

How does it work? Well, simply place an order via the KFC website, or app, and fill in the details, such as the preferred time of delivery, vehicle number, etc. The restaurant manager will confirm the order, the restaurant address, and time of pick-up. You will get a confirmation call once your order is ready.

When you reach the designated address/spot, a KFC employee will place the order on the hood of your car, or the back-seat of your two-wheeler. You can collect the order once the person steps back.

One can clearly see the measures taken to minimise human contact from food collection to payments; it's a trend that will continue in future.

Meanwhile, as far as KFC India's finances go, a two per cent decline in system sales was reported for the quarter ended March 31. System sale is a terminology used in the franchising industry to measure sales of a franchise brand.

We wait to see when the restaurants start opening their doors, so that the dine-in culture thrives once again.