Double lane drive-throughs, contact-free pickup and small, fast-delivery, high street stores are signalling a seismic shift in the way fast-food operators serve their customers.

Big players such as McDonald’s and KFC are tweaking the look and location of their outlets to cater for contact-free trends that became evident before the pandemic.

“COVID-19 has seen a growing demand for high street restaurant formats in urban areas with high delivery rates, but also drive-throughs in suburban areas as people are looking to receive their food contact-free,’ KFC Australia chief operations and development officer Inara Gravitis said.

Meanwhile, keen investors are snapping up fast-food freehold sight unseen on record low yields.

Five QSR outlets sold by the agent since May this year fetched an average $4.02 million, $868,000 (21 per cent) over the collective reserve price.

The average yield was 3.98 per cent, compared with 4.94 per cent for the same period last year.

The properties included a new KFC outlet at Berrinba in Brisbane that sold for $5.16 million – $1.14 million over reserve – on a 3.35 per cent yield.

A KFC store in Forster, NSW sold for $2.83 million on a slender 2.9 per cent yield.

“Drive-throughs are almost bulletproof offerings, COVID or no COVID,’ said Burgess Rawson’s national director of fast food, Raoul Holderhead.

According to agent CBRE, customers will return to dine-in options when they feel it’s safe to do so.

Tim Boreham, The Age