There are some companies I would never guess to have any kind of digital presence whatsoever. Sometimes the product and/or service offering is just a bad match for technology. And then sometimes the customer demographics just aren’t there.
Like at Golden Corral, a restaurant chain that was nearly decimated by COVID. How can you have a buffet and people handling all those spoons when there’s a pandemic going on? But they managed to survive somehow, and are the biggest buffet chain in the US.
I have many recollections of Golden Corral, but not at all because I chose to go there. No, my aging parents—now both gone—absolutely loved Golden Corral. In essence, it is a feeding trough of the highest order. But more importantly for my parents and their many elderly pals, Golden Corral offers a ton of boring, bland comfort food, which I have been told older people prefer. I wouldn’t know, at least not yet.
But how can a buffet join the 21C and go digital? Sure, DoorDash does deliver Golden Corral, but the demo using DoorDash is very different from the legions of older folks I have seen at Golden Corrals.
In spite of this, Dawn Gillis, the new CIO at Golden Corral, decided to do a major upgrade, including hiring Qu, the technology firm relied up by many QSRs (Quick Service Restaurants) and Fast Casual Restaurants. It’s just that, at first, a buffet such as Golden Corral seemed like a bad fit, because at first blush few would ever consider them a QSR or FCR.
Founded in 1973, Golden Corral has 351 locations in 39 states and Puerto Rico. The implementation of Qu technologies will unify everything from the kitchen, point-of-sale, online ordering, pick-up, and delivery. While online ordering can be tricky with a buffet, especially with items changing from day to day, Qu aims to make it as seamless as if a customer were going through the line in-store.
There will be some reliance on curated meals too, like a plate with chicken breast and several sides. Buffet purchases may very well follow the weigh-and-pay model. Presently online ordering is five-percent of sales, and Golden Corral hopes to double that this year.
Back of house, Qu’s technology will aid with inventory management and kitchen display systems. The inventory system will track the amount of each item sold, and then use that data to predict future sales as well as aid reordering. Front of house, there will be major improvements made at the POS.
But there is still one lingering problem: Whereas DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grub Hub, and the like can easily deliver pizzas and hamburgers, plated meals can be problematic. They must be packaged such that nothing oozes or leaks, that the items don’t all blend and become a plate of mush. With each buffet order being bespoke, meaning custom-made to the patron’s requests, that can present myriad challenges. How do you plate a takeaway order that includes both hot and cold items?
Curated meals definitely make the job easier, because the items on the plate are all pre-determined. At least they can plan for this, but those one-offs will be challenging.
The elephant in the living room demands our attention, though, of this one thorny fact: The average Golden Corral customer is 65 years old and lives in the south. Ouch. That sounds a lot like my parents during their golden years. And did the idea of using their phone to order something ever pop into their head? Not a chance.
What’s a DoorDash?
Although I admittedly find myself in that demo, I refuse to participate. I am fine with all the technology. I am fine with DoorDash delivering our Thai food when I visited the kids in Frisco. I am just not in tune with buffets in general, and specifically the array of food they offer. It’s pretty much all out of a gallon-sized can, heated, poured into huge serving trays, and placed under heat lamps along the serving line. Not my jam. Give me a menu, please.
Although I applaud the CIO for addressing a woefully inadequate tech platform at Golden Corral, I think that any hopes of doubling their digital ordering and takeaway is pretty ambitious. Their primary demo is the least likely to embrace the technology she wants deployed.
Why, it would be like expecting Cracker Barrel customers to scan a QR code for a menu, and then place their order. I can see mass confusion.
Maybe—just maybe—Golden Corral needs to think a little more about their food. After all, that’s why people come in the first place. If they want to get a tech-savvy demo, they need to start thinking like Millennials and Gen-Zers. The longstanding format seems more like the cafeteria at any university, something that most students are glad to put behind them.
Good move, Golden Corral, on trying to join the 21C. I just wouldn’t keep your hopes too high about the customer part of it all. I haven’t been back since my parents passed away, and have no plans ever to do so. Well, unless they were to do a major concept overhaul. That ain’t happening, though, which explains my opening statements.
There are just some companies you would never expect to have much of a digital presence.
Dr “I’ll Eat Elsewhere, Thanks” Gerlich
