Yum Brands is designing its stores for iPhones

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KFC-owner Yum Brands just made its biggest move in a year. It acquired Tictuk - no, it's not a typo. Tictuk is a Israeli startup that lets you order food from social media and messaging apps. You can't use it to order from TikTok yet. 

Back story: Yum bought Tictuk to capitalize on “conversational commerce," which makes ordering a Chalupa Supreme as easy as sending a text (or a FB message). Yum's digital sales in 2020 hit a record of $17B, up ~45% from 2019. Now it's doubling down on tech for its futuristic makeover. Tictuk is Yum's second tech acquisition in less than a month and it help revamp Yum Brands' ordering strategy and make it more digital focused. Tictuk will enable Yum Brands to achieve a truly omnichannel presence and provide frictionless ordering for customers in just a few clicks. It's very much inline with Taco Bell's announcement earlier this week to expand its "Go Mobile" restaurant remodel nationwide. "Go Mobile" is Taco Bell's digital-focused new restaurant design. It includes: dual drive-throughs, smaller dining rooms, curbside pickup, and baristas taking orders on digital tablets. The plan is to expand it to at least 30 locations by the end of 2021.

Bottom line: Yum Brands makeover is not surprising one bit. Before it was apps designed for iPhones, but the pandemic has changed fast food customers' habits — potentially permanently and now even physical stores have to be redesigned iPhone. Yum Brands including Taco Bell are not alone making their stores more techy. Taco Bell's techy restaurant is one of the first physical stores designed for iPhone. Chipotle did something similar in November with digital-only, table-free restaurants (aka Chipotlanes). As ecommerce eats everything, we'll likely see more mobile-optimized store formats.

Disclaimer: This post is merely my own assessment and is not an investment recommendation. For professional advice, seek input from a licensed investment advisor.
 


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