Order Pickup in the US and UK: What Restaurant Chains Are Testing, and Where Lockers Fit
Dedicated pickup lanes, courier rooms and pickup shelves from published US restaurant tests — and what UK restaurants can take from them.
Large US restaurant chains have published tests of new ways to hand over app and delivery orders: dedicated pickup lanes, courier rooms and pickup shelves. The common thread is separating collection from the main counter. Below is what has been publicly reported, and how pickup lockers fit the same idea for UK restaurants.
Taco Bell Defy (Brooklyn Park, Minnesota)
Taco Bell announced the Defy concept in June 2022: a two-storey restaurant with four drive-thru lanes, three of them dedicated to mobile and delivery orders, with food sent down from the kitchen by a vertical lift (Taco Bell newsroom). QSR Magazine reported that the chain's wider "Go Mobile" format includes mobile pickup shelves and self-ordering kiosks (QSR Magazine).
McDonald's test restaurant (Fort Worth, Texas)
McDonald's tested a smaller-format restaurant in Fort Worth with an order-ahead lane served by a conveyor, a courier pickup room, and shelves where customers collect food ordered at a kiosk (NACS, December 2022).
What these tests have in common
- App and delivery orders are collected away from the main counter
- Couriers get a dedicated space
- Customers collect without waiting for staff
These examples use lanes, rooms and shelves. They are not Foodie Locker installations, and the brands named are not affiliated with or endorsing Foodie Locker. Details are as publicly reported at the time of the sources linked.
Where pickup lockers fit
Most UK takeaways and restaurants don't have space for extra drive-thru lanes or a courier room. A pickup locker applies the same principle in a small footprint: staff load the order, and the customer or rider opens their own compartment with a code. Unlike an open shelf, each order is behind its own door.
Getting started in the UK
Start with one site, separate rider and customer collection, and measure how the counter changes at peak. See restaurant collection lockers or talk to us about a pilot.