Gotta Go Fast: Boojum Tackles Queue Times In New IFSC Store
By Aoife Muckian | Feb 4 2018
Aoife Muckian reports on Boojum’s announcement to open the new Turbo Boojum store which will have touch-based ordering screens to cut down on queues. On October 16th, Boojum brought a food truck to campus under what the UCD Estates' blog described as a "two-week trial." The surprise proved to be a treat for many students but like many Boojum locations, the queues were lengthy. Students sacrificed their free hours to stand in the impressively long queues that snaked along the path next to the Sutherland law building. UCD students and other customers of Boojum have been rewarded for their patience with a recent announcement made by the burrito bar to roll out an initiative to shorten queue times. In their IFSC store, which will be named “Turbo Boojum,” customers will have the ability to order their food electronically by touch-based ordering screens. “A recent announcement made by the Mexican burrito bar to roll out an initiative to shorten queue times.”
Touch-based ordering screens are becoming increasingly popular with fast-food restaurants as a means to ensure that the food is delivered to the customer as quickly as possible. McDonald’s has gradually embraced this ordering system in Ireland over the last two years. The first Irish McDonald’s store to include the self-service ordering option was in Kilkenny, and since then they have been installed in several other outlets, most notably on O’Connell Street. The fast food giant planned to introduce touch-based ordering screens in 2,500 American restaurants in 2017 and is projected to implement the concept in an additional 3,000 US stores in 2018. Efficiency is at the heart of Boojum’s incentive to introduce the system to its IFSC store. Boojum’s marketing manager, Nuala McMenamin has been quoted saying, “We asked our customers recently what was important to them when visiting a Boojum store. After food quality and customer service came queue speed, which is primarily driven by payment speed.” Customers have the option of ordering and paying off the touch-based screen and then picking up the order from a collection point, or can stick with the traditional method of queuing up to order and pay. If this initiative proves successful in the new IFSC store, it may be rolled out to other Boojum stores operating in the country. The new store’s location may prove successful for the company, as it will be situated in the IFSC, which holds up to 38,000 employees (as of 2015), employed under 500+ firms. The new store will also be located within a 15 minute walk of Trinity College Dublin, and 7 minutes from the National College of Ireland and so will likely attract students. Unfortunately, no plans have been unveiled as of yet to bring the burrito back to UCD.