DUNKIN' ROLLS OUT NEW IDEAS
Cold brew on tap, better mobile ordering, redesigned stores and selfie donuts. These are some of the new features customers can expect when they walk into one of 30 nextgeneration Dunkin’ — formerly Dunkin’ Donuts — in downtown Boston when they are finished by the end of the year, the company’s latest push to keep pace with competitors and remain relevant.
“Everything is changing, the world, technology, and everything like that. I think things are changing so fast, this has to be part of the equation going forward,” said David Hoffmann, chief executive of Dunkin’ Brands. “If you think you can just be a cash box selling drip coffee, I think the world will pass you by.”
Yesterday, Hoffmann and other company officials showed off a redesigned store on City Hall Plaza. The restaurant is what the company is calling its next generation store, and includes all of its cold drinks on tap, a complete redesign and behind-the-scenes technology improvements to make mobile ordering faster and easier. The stores will also bear the name Dunkin’, rather than the traditional Dunkin’ Donuts.
“We’re not here to out-comfy couch some of the other players, that’s not our proposition,” Hoffmann said. “It’s get in, get out, get on your way with your Dunkin.’ We feel like that’s the point of differentiation that we have.”
The company and its franchise owners will open 30 “next-gen” restaurants in downtown Boston by the end of the year, and two more throughout the country. Dunkin’, led by Hoffmann, has been seeking to refine its image to appeal to younger customers without alienating its existing customer base. Hoffman, who joined Dunkin’ in 2016 but was named CEO in July, said the company is trying to find a sweet spot.
“It was all about making sure that we respected the heritage of Dunkin’, but we really became more modern and relevant for generations to come,” he said. “I think the customer is more demanding in choosing, and they want more choice today, and you have to stay on that and you can’t stay still, you have to continue to lean forward, but without losing who you are as a brand.”
The company is facing more and more competition from local and chain coffee shops. On City Hall Plaza, for example, the Dunkin’ is next door to a Starbucks, across the street from a Caffe Nero and a 60-second walk to a local coffee stand inside City Hall. That kind of competition may be why the company is planning on introducing different kinds of products, like doughnuts and lattes that can be imprinted with the customers’ face.
“Imagine a world where using your Dunkin’ app, you can not only order your food and your beverage, but you can also take a selfie and that selfie is going to be automatically imprinted using coffee extract on your coffee, or using a sugared paper automatically on your donut,” said Dan Wheeler, vice president of strategic initia- tives for Dunkin’, who said that is likely coming in about a year. “It’s all about the me generation, mak- ing sure this was made specifically for me, we’re looking for that Instagram-able moment.”