2. Belief Description: The unmet need is to have less wait times, and more convenience when dining at Chipotle. The need originated when Chipotle started to become very popular, and began to appeal to the masses. The need has arose fairly recently, with Chipotle becoming a household name. People are not really doing much to meet this need now. The best thing that people can do currently is to order their food over the phone, and then come in and pick it up. This method avoids the long store lines, but is still very time intensive. Overall, I am 85% sure that this opportunity exists.
3. Prototypical Customer: I believe that the prototypical customer is men and women around the ages of 16-50. More specifically people that have busy schedules whether it be due to school or work.
Interview 1:
3. Prototypical customer: Female age 18 (my girlfriend):
4. What is the exact nature of the need? To widen the potential customer base, and to increase overall business.
When did you become aware of the need? I am aware of the need all the time. Chipotle is always extremely busy, and this sometimes turns me away from eating there.
How long have you had the need? As long as I have had the freedom to commute on my own, and have the ability to choose where I would like to eat. (3 years)
When did you first become aware of the need? Why? When I turned 16. (When I received my license.) Because it would take over 20 minutes to order my food.
How are you currently addressing your need? I am currently addressing my need by ordering Chipotle through their website and going into the store where I can bypass the line, and pick up my order from the cashier.
How satisfied are you with this solution? Although ordering Chipotle online allows me to bypass the extensive in store lines, I still experience the disadvantage of having to get out of my car, go inside Chipotle, and get an employee's attention to go find my bag with my order; therefore, I am not very satisfied with my solution.
Interview 2:
3. Prototypical customer: Female age 49 (my mother):
4. What is the exact nature of the need? To reduce wait times at Chipotle.
3. Prototypical customer: Female age 49 (my mother):
4. What is the exact nature of the need? To reduce wait times at Chipotle.
When did you become aware of the need? I am aware of the need sometimes. Chipotle is usually extremely busy, typically around 12-2 PM and 5-7 PM.
How long have you had the need? I have had the need for quite a while now, ever since Chipotle got really popular about 4-5 years ago.
When did you first become aware of the need? Why? When I began to go to Chipotle a couple times a week for lunch. Because it would take over 20 minutes to order my food.
How are you currently addressing your need? I am currently addressing my need by just waiting in the line or not going at all. With my busy schedule I can only go during the very busy lunch time.
How satisfied are you with this solution? I am not very satisfied with this solution. I do not really have a solution at all, I just avoid Chipotle all together sometimes.
Interview 3:
3. Prototypical customer: Male age 19 (my roommate):
4. What is the exact nature of the need? To reduce the time it takes to get food at Chipotle.
3. Prototypical customer: Male age 19 (my roommate):
4. What is the exact nature of the need? To reduce the time it takes to get food at Chipotle.
When did you become aware of the need? I am aware of the need all the time. Chipotle always has a line out the door, and this sometimes stops me from eating there.
How long have you had the need? As long as I have had the freedom to commute on my own, and have the ability to choose where I would like to eat. (3 years)
When did you first become aware of the need? Why? When I turned 16, because it would take a very long time to order my food.
How are you currently addressing your need? I am currently addressing my need by ordering Chipotle through their app and going into the store where I can skip the line, and directly pick up my completed order.
How satisfied are you with this solution? Although ordering Chipotle on my phone allows me to skip the long in-store lines, I still experience the disadvantage of having to take the time to go inside Chipotle and get my order from the cashier.
5. Reflection: I learned that most people typically have the same view of Chipotle, and its extremely lengthy lines. I was most surprised that some people just avoid Chipotle all together because they do not want to deal with the long lines.
7. Summarize: All of my original opportunity is still there. I believe that my new opportunity is about the same level of accuracy as when I first started. Overall, I still believe that there is a need to reduce wait times at Chipotle with drive-throughs. All of the people I interviewed also agreed with my beliefs and statements. Lastly, I believe entrepreneurs should adapt their opportunities based on customer feedback. The customers are the ones who use the opportunities and drive results, so I believe that their opinions are among the most important out there.
Chipotle drive-thrus seem logical to me. The concern about wait times seems overblown because I feel that almost every establishment with drive-thru service takes a long time anyway and I doubt Chipotle's offerings would take any longer than Burger King or Wendy's. Having said that, I do not eat at Chipotle as they have a history of not taking food safety particularly seriously, but if they could figure out how to not make people sick all the time and add a drive-thru while they're at it, I might just come around; their food is delicious, after all.
ReplyDeleteA Chipotle drive thru seems like a good idea. However some other steps could be taken before implementing a drive thru. For instance, the manager of the franchise could ensure the employees are working as diligently as possible. Also, I feel as though the parking lot near Chipotle would not be large enough to implement a drive thru. Unfortunately, many places on/near campus become busy because of the large amount of people in one area. However a drive thru might certainly help Chipotle's efficiency.
ReplyDeleteHey David,
ReplyDeleteCreating chipotle drive-thru systems makes a lot of sense to me and I think its a good idea. Of course, there are some logistical things that have to be thought through first, like whether or not it is feasible for the franchise, or if it will really bring in more/ new customers. I think that I read something about this, and that Chipotle doesn't want to have a drive-thru because of the "fast food" vibe it gives off, and that is not what Chipotle wants to be seen as. Overall, the idea seems very good and who knows, we may be seeing Chipotle drive-thru's soon.