What’s affecting the sector?
Median age of the population
Real household discretionary income Health consciousness Demand from restaurants
* Fast Food and Takeaway Food Services in Australia H4512 April 2020
Inside Franchise Business spoke with Vietnamese fast-food chain Roll’d founder and CEO Bao Hoang about what's next for the fast-growing brand.
There needs to be a progression of ideas that ensures innovation follows the brand’s strategy, he says. In this instance, it’s about customer convenience.
“Convenience is always our biggest play long term," he says.
So the steps taken by Roll’d to improve the customer experience focus on ease of delivery.
“We were 95 per cent store sales and 5 per cent delivery. Now we are 70 per cent store and 30 per cent delivery which we always had planned. We just sped it up.”
Roll’d delivery has three mechanisms: Roll’d drivers, a white label partnership with a third party (the order goes directly through Roll’d), and delivery partners.
There’s the idea of offering a workplace deal which cuts out the delivery charges to the customer, if there’s a group order. Mid-pandemic hasn’t been the best time to trial this, so it’s on the back burner.
So too is the meal box concept - because it’s being done by many other hospitality brands.
What is brand new and exciting for franchisees, and consumers, is the Roll'dRunner.
It’s a food truck that cooks prepared meals outside your house. Consumers register their suburb online, a minimum numbers of orders are collated a couple of hours ahead of delivery time, and the truck is packed up with the freshly-prepared meals ready for a quick flash in the wok or oven and served hot to the householder.
"For us it's how food should be,” says Bao.
it’s a new revenue option for franchisees to add into their business, he says.
“Because the truck comes from a local store, efficiencies are already there, you don't increase the staff - it's another angle of opportunity."
It’s a concept that’s just starting out, but Bao already plans to offer 10 Rolld’Runner opportunities to franchisees next year.
Longer term Bao has his heart set on leading the way in the skies with drone delivery for fast-food.
"We’re investing a fair bit of money further into our tech, our app, because I do keep saying, in about five years drone delivery will be a major part of this. Decongesting roads, making delivery more efficient and easier for the consumer. It will be something in our business in five years time. We would love to be leaders of that around the world.”
LOOKING TO THE REGIONS
It’s no wonder times have been tough for fast-food CBD and airport stores. As Bao