Need to Reach New Customers? Step Outside the Box

As restaurants work overtime to deal with soaring costs, ongoing labor shortages and growing economic uncertainty, many are pushing the limits of what used to be their competitive space to extend their brand and get in front of new potential customers. 

Who among us hasn’t ordered food through a convenient mobile application, with menu choices ranging from not just quick-serve or fast-casual restaurants, but convenience stores as well? Further, who hasn’t seen a long-standing restaurant provide a new, interesting service, such as Subway selling its pre-made sandwiches in non-traditional locations – the trusted vending machine? 

These are just two examples of how restaurant chains are blurring the lines with non-traditional competitors. 

Channel blurring, the concept of offering your branded items through a non-traditional outlet or introducing new methods of filling customer needs, is here to stay. And why not? Done right, it can be one of the best opportunities for…