Taco Bell may test delivery in 2015

Bruce Horovitz | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Taco Bell wants to test delivery service Taco Bell is planning to start testing delivery services because apparently customers really, really want it.

It's one thing to get a hot pizza delivered to your door — but what about a hot Double Decker Taco Supreme?

Taco Bell, ever-eager to bend to the needs and wants of Millennials, is making serious noise about getting into the delivery game — possibly as soon as this year.

"We are positioning ourselves for clock-less eating," CEO Brian Niccol said. "Technology is changing the way people interact with restaurants and retail." That's why Taco Bell is trying to push the needle not only with its new mobile app — but also is looking into delivery, he says. "We have to appeal to the taste and spirit of Millennials — who want access to anything they want, when they want."

When might tacos and burritos be available door-to-door? Well, Taco Bell hopes to test home delivery sometime this year, says spokesman Rob Poetsch, but he declines to specify when or where. The pull for home delivery is relentless, he says. "Delivery is the No. 1 Taco Bell topic on Twitter on the weekends."

For that matter, delivery is the single-most common request from Taco Bell customers, Niccol recently told Nation's Restaurant News,a trade publication. "We have to figure it out, and I can tell you right now we don't have it figured out."

For that matter, virtually none of the major fast-food chains have figured out delivery besides the pizza giants. Not that some aren't trying.

Burger King began testing its delivery service in early 2012. BK Delivers is currently offered in parts of Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York, Miami, Minneapolis, Sacramento, San Francisco and Washington.

Panera CEO Ron Shaich has said that Panera, too, is exploring delivery. And last month, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz detailed plans for the chain to test two kinds of delivery in the second half of 2015 — in Seattle with a third-party delivery service; and in New York City's Empire State Building, by green-apron-wearing baristas.

"Fast food delivery is the definitive next step." says Sarah Lockyer, editor in chief of Nation's Restaurant News. "In an age of Amazon, Netflix and Uber, consumers expect everything they want on demand."

What's more, Lockyer says, many consumers are willing to pay the price — even in high delivery fees. "It's shocking how much prices can go up, yet consumers will still frequent if the brand if it gives them what they want," she says.

But, Lockyer notes, the newest inroads into delivery of fast-food might be aimed less at Millennials and more at appealing to the next generation of consumers — those under age 18, sometimes called Gen Z.

When might fast-food delivery by the major chains be commonplace?

It may take up to five years for industry leaders like Starbucks and Taco Bell to figure it out, estimates Lockyer, then another five years for the rest of the industry to catch on.

So, less than a decade from now, that Double Decker Taco Supreme, delivered door-to-door, may actually be a yawner.