Brands launching their version of the "store of the future" is pretty common these days, with Chipotle, Taco, Bell, Panera, and Burger King all responding to the COVID-19 pandemic with design modifications focused on convenience, speed, and digital experience. While these and many other chains are starting the lengthy process of testing and scaling innovative store build outs, other chains are celebrating growth milestones with their latest designs. Earlier this year, just three years after Dunkin' unveiled their new Next Gen store design concept, they celebrated the 1000th Next Gen opening.
Though the Next Gen store is different and modern, it still maintains a strong sense of the original Dunkin' brand with an updated layout that places more prominence on beverages, driving customer awareness of their non-donut, highly profitable menu items. Other benefits operators of Next Gen stores have also experienced:
Sales increases
Customer engagement
Crew satisfaction
Reduced turnover
From an article written by Cindy Atoji and published on DDIFO:
Maintaining a brand’s image has always been a critical part of the business. Consider the iconic buildings associated with brands like Pizza Hut, Arby’s and Stuckey’s, not to mention the golden arches at McDonald’s. Integrated, physical branding can shape consumer expectation, and today’s consumer is greatly concerned with image, branding and convenience, according to Jayson Tipp, chief growth officer for the Perfect Company, which designs enterprise technology solutions for restaurants to increase profitability.
“For restaurants to succeed, they have to have a modern, enticing brand, and that includes the design aesthetic of the restaurant,” Tipp says. “The speed with which a brand update, or a brand failure, can be disseminated on the internet only amplifies this phenomenon.”