Chipotle resists tech automation at restaurants

DENVER -- Mark Crumpacker would love to find technology that helps speed the line at Chipotle Mexican Grill, where he serves as chief marketing officer.

Like others in similar positions, he's got a wide palette of gee-whiz technologies at his disposal — tablets for ordering, mobile payment systems, in-store ATM-like machines for ordering that replace cashiers. Yet he eschews most of them. He's in no rush for tech to dramatically change the Chipotle experience at its more than 1,300 stores worldwide.

He hasn't found the perfect solution yet. And, besides, he likes the human interaction.

That said, Chipotle, based here, happens to have a wildly popular app, a free tool that shows you where the nearest location is and lets you order and pay on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Nearly 5 million customers have signed up since 2010 and use the app to go straight to the front of the line to pick up their orders.

Customers can also order online or via fax to bypass the line. (No Android app yet, but he says it's in the works.)

But that's about as far as he wants to go. A future where all orders are made digitally?

"I hope not," Crumpacker says. "I hope the experience of coming into Chipotle and ordering on the line is substantially superior to ordering on the phone. There's all this communication as you watch what's being made."

Less spent on marketing

Communication is key for Crumpacker, who like most businesses in the 21st century, is using tech to talk to customers via social media. But Chipotle, which turns 20 next year, does it differently from many competitors.

Chipotle spends just 1.75% of each sale on marketing — the industry average is 3%-5% — doesn't talk about new product launches (it only has tacos, burritos, salads and bowls) and rarely offers discount coupons. Instead, it sells the idea of support for farmers and using fresh food, primarily via social media.

"Our food costs are much higher than the typical fast-food restaurant," Crumpacker says. "We're at 32% of sales, most are in the low 20s. That necessitates taking a different approach to marketing."

So much so that Chipotle has a loyalty program offering free food, T-shirts and hats to customers who are willing to spend time online answering questions about the Chipotle philosophy.

Why is the loyalty program open to customers by invitation only? "It's quite a bit to ask of someone," he says. "It's designed to turn them into an evangelist." The program has 5,000 members and will become open to all eventually, he says. He'd like to see it built into the smartphone app, a place where customers can open it up to learn more about where the food comes from and Chipotle's choices of ingredients.

What is coming more immediately is a sequel to Chipotle's Back to the Start animated video about life on the farm. That five-minute short, which featured music from the legendary Willie Nelson, first played in theaters and then went to YouTube, where it has received nearly 7 million views. Crumpacker hopes to have the sequel online by year's end.

Some 4 billion of the 60 billion visits to U.S. restaurants this year will be influenced by social media and the Web, estimates analyst Bonnie Riggs of technology research firm the NPD Group. "It's clearly growing and looking to be very important."

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