The fast-food chain Subway has decided to innovate by starting to operate connected fridges. Indeed, the restaurant giant which owns more than 36 000 restaurants in the world (more than McDonald's), including 315 in France, has recently taken the plunge by unveiling the presentation of Subway Grab & Go. Last September, Subway had its first smart refrigerator installed at the University of California in San Diego, which was regularly stocked by the group's nearby franchises. With the popularity of this connected fridge, Subway quickly moved to install more than 400 of them in North America. But Subway's move to connected fridges dovetails with its restaurant closures that have been going on around the world for a few years.
Why is Subway's offering working?
Equipped with artificial intelligence, the connected fridge is designed to respond quickly to customer demand, while providing necessary information about product composition, expiration dates and pricing. In addition, the Grab & Go communicates with the user by voice and is able to answer many questions. As far as hygiene is concerned, the machine is cleaned and disinfected after each use with UV-C rays.But this is a new form of "on-the-go" food that radically changes the game for people who are in a hurry, who don't necessarily have the time or the money to have lunch in a restaurant, but who are no longer satisfied with the poorly nourishing foods (chocolate bars, sodas, candy, etc.) that are usually found in vending machines.
Moreover, Subway has already targeted many places for the installation of its connected fridges such as universities, airports or hospitals.
