Applebee’s franchisee Doherty Enterprises added pickup lockers to its location in East Islip, Long Island, N.Y. The casual dining operation added the lockers to support its work with third-party delivery companies such as DoorDash, GrubHub and Uber Eats.
At this location, once the order is ready, the Applebee’s team member loads it into the back of the locker straight from the kitchen. When delivery drivers arrive, they go straight to the lockers and enter their unique code to unlock their specific pickup order. The solution features indicator lights to guide the drivers to the correct compartment that contains their delivery. The entire pickup process lasts less than 10 seconds, per a release.
“The new pickup lockers mean drivers no longer spend precious time at the counter requesting their pickup order, instead, they are alerted when the order is ready,” says Kurt Pahlitzsch, vice president of operations, Doherty Enterprises.
After testing and refining, Doherty Enterprises plans to roll out the new technology to additional Applebee’s restaurants in its portfolio. The franchisee also pointed out this is not an Applebee’s systemwide initiative.
Doherty Enterprises owns and operates more than 130 restaurants in New Jersey, New York, Florida and Georgia, including 5 restaurant concepts: Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, Panera Bread, Chevys Fresh Mex and its own concepts, The Shannon Rose Irish Pub and Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas.