via Veronika Bondarenko, TheStreet

With the use of cash dropping around 15% per year since 2017, it is no surprise that we’re starting to see more and more cashless restaurants pop up around us. Between the pandemic and general digitalization, only 16% of Americans were found to “always” have cash on them in 2020.

The move toward credit cards, apps, and phone-based payment methods has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If people stop using cash, then places will consider stopping accepting cash.

Cash may no longer be king and that’s a concept that one growing fast-food chain has made plans to embrace.

The Texas-based chicken wing chain Wingstop (WING) – Get Wingstop, Inc. Report just launched what it calls its first “restaurant of the future” in Dallas — a lobby without dining seats, a small ordering area and larger back-of-house, and a cash-free environment. The decor is meant to advertise different Wingstop products while also keeping orders moving quickly.

The 1,300-square-foot restaurant was designed as a pilot location meant to test who comes into Wingstop stores and why as, according to the company, delivery and carryout already account for nearly 100% of its orders. While drop-in customers can use the displayed QR codes to order, Wingstop aims to have 100% of the orders at this location done digitally in the future.

“A glimpse into our Lovers Lane location is a glimpse into the future of Wingstop – focused on 100% digital transactions, seamless back of house operations, ongoing flavor innovation, and a business model centered around our fans, who love to dine off-premise with friends, while gaming, or just about anywhere you can think of,” Marisa Carona, Wingstop’s chief growth officer, said in a statement.

“Over the last 12-24 months, technology systems were upgraded to facilitate mobile access, on-demand reservations, orders for delivery and pickup, contactless payments, digital menus, and loyalty programs to serve a ‘contactless’ dining experience,” Brian Solis wrote for Restaurant Dive.