While picking up Chipotle carry out for dinner last night, I noticed signage promoting a new iPhone application for placing orders remotely. They even stapled a version of the sign to my bag, which I kept for some reason (see photo I took). I go there several times each week so you could say I am a loyal or frequent customer.
Funny enough, this morning on MobileMarketer.com there was a brief story (“Chipotle Mexican Grill enters the mobile commerce arena”) about the new application, which I didn’t realize supported mobile payments and also utilized the iPhone’s location sensing abilities to find the nearest restaurant from which to place an order. Another interesting attribute of the application is being able to save your order to make repeat purchases faster.
As a frequent diner at Chipotle I was excited to see them extend their service in this way, but as a Blackberry user with no plans to go iPhone, I was disappointed they don’t support other Smartphone applications right now. That’s why I say they should have “grilled me” about my Smartphone usage.
The company claims their customer demographic is a good fit with iPhone users, but I am not among them apparently. It’s especially too bad because as a loyal customer, I would appreciate occasional discounts or special promotions aligned with my eating habits, something I imagine iPhone-toting customers will soon enjoy.
Waiting in line behind large parties staring at the menu debating what to order is never enjoyable, but especially after a long day at work. So submitting my order and paying via mobile has a lot of appeal to me. I could just drive up, pick up then go eat. Hopefully Chipotle will expand the concept to other devices, in recognition that it’s the mobile experience which matters more so than a particular device. Or I need to get an iPhone.
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