No more waiting to grab your pizza on the way home.
It’s not always as quick as you might like to pick up a pizza on the way home, but Pizza Hut might have a solution: borrow a page from the online shopping world. Its Hollywood restaurant (6660 Sunset Boulevard) has started testing Amazon Locker-like “cubbies” for carryout orders purchased through any method. Each cubby includes a display that shows your partial name as well as a lining that keeps your food hot and your drinks cold. You won’t have to wait for someone at the counter — once you’ve paid, you just double-tap the screen and grab your meal.
And in case you’re wondering: the cubby doors remain locked until you’re in the store and have paid, so someone won’t make off with your Veggie Lover’s before you arrive.
Whatever happens with the pilot program, though, it’s just the start. Pizza Hut said it plans more “completely frictionless” locations in other West Coast cities in 2020. Much like its rivals, then, the chain sees a future where you won’t have to wait long for dinner (or interact with humans, for that matter) unless you’re grabbing a seat. That’s not unexpected. Online ordering has made the carryout and delivery processes more important than they used to be, and a speedy pick-up could mean the difference between keeping a customer and losing them to faster-moving competition.
