Tim Horton’s Internal Conflict Over Mobile Ordering

Word recently emerged that made it clear Tim Horton’s was looking to step into the ranks of quick-serve restaurants that offered mobile ordering.

A great step forward for donut buffs, no mistake, but the latest reports suggest that the individual franchisees that make up Tim Horton’s are calling for a note of restraint, suggesting that the chain hold off on the mobile ordering app’s release.

The reason for said restraint? The franchisees say that more testing needs to be done in order to make sure the app is safe and usable. Reports note that the Great White North Franchisee Association sent Tim Horton’s a letter to that effect, concerned not only about testing but also about staff training that would need to go into the app’s successful use.

Tim Horton’s owner, Restaurant Brands International, revealed plans to launch mobile ordering this spring back in January, as a means to—which will come as no surprise at all—better compete with Starbucks. Testing started back in late December, at 25 locations in Ontario.

Given that Tim Horton’s has around 4,000 locations in Canada to its credit—which may not be counting some in Michigan and other Canada-adjacent areas—it would be easy to see why Tim Horton’s franchisees are concerned.

Testing that’s taking place in less than one percent of available locations, and here in only perhaps the most industrialized and best connected segment of Canada, is kind of lacking in statistical validity. What works in Ontario may not work so well in British Columbia, or Saskatchewan.

Why not spread the testing out to more restaurants in more provinces before letting the whole thing go live all of a sudden? Certainly, you have to pull the trigger eventually, but a couple months’ delay to try testing at 400 locations instead of 25 can scarcely go wrong, especially when the franchisees want delay!

Some extra time in testing—not to mention some wider range in testing—may be a valid move. After all, who wants to jump headlong into a half-working initiative and produce a disastrous customer experience?

That will do more harm than good to Tim Horton’s going forward, and since this is a move designed to better compete with Starbucks, shooting the move in the foot immediately just doesn’t work.