Though they have been around for some time, the speed improvement strategy mentioned most often was the installation of drive-thru timers. Four of the 16 chains surveyed already have or will be installing drive-thru timers system-wide beginning this year. El Pollo Loco’s Sather says the chain’s FastTrak timers are used to measure the success of its “Gone in 60 Seconds” program. In-store managers, franchisees, and district and headquarters managers can monitor performance at any time during the day to determine where goals are met and improvements can be made.
The benefits of timers are tangible if not fully transparent, according to Todd Walker, director of restaurant support services for Church’s Chicken. “We have seen over a one-minute improvement in speed of service in company restaurants since implementation of drive-thru time systems. However, we have not been able to associate additional profits to this improvement,” he says.
Other areas that more than half of consumer respondents rated as important were speaker communications (69 percent), the number of cars in line (66 percent), the presence of an order-confirmation board (61 percent), menu variety (60 percent), and hours of service (56 percent).
One of the biggest issues in quick-serve in general and drive-thru service in particular over the past couple of years has been credit and debit card acceptance. Yet, as was the case last year, consumers don’t seem quite as eager about being able to use their cards at the drive-thru.
While 52 percent of consumer respondents report having used a credit/debit card at a drive-thru, only 38 percent said it would likely affect their choice of drive-thru restaurant. Sixty percent said that it would have no effect at all. Payment card acceptance is one area where more respondents reported being satisfied with the service (42 percent), while on the chain side, 81 percent said card acceptance is on their list of improvement strategies for their drive-thru service. Chalk this one up to the industry being forward thinking.
What about the food? Sixty-one percent say they are satisfied with menu variety but then again only 60 percent say it’s important. Sixty percent of consumer respondents say they are buying food for themselves when opting for the drive-thru, and half say they are sometimes buying for their families. Thirty-eight percent are taking it home, and 35 percent are eating it in the car.
To make meals more consumable in the car, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s have expanded their line of breakfast burritos and collar-wrapped their burgers for several years. Checkers/Rally’s Western Barbeque Burger introduced early this year was specifically designed to retain its shape and be eaten with one hand. Bojangles’ is testing boneless wings and minibiscuits that are easier to eat on the go. Jack In The Box redesigned the entrée salad bowl to make mixing in the dressing easier. Arby’s has followed others and introduced popcorn chicken to its lineup this year in a convenient shake-it-with-the-sauce cup. McDonald’s new cinnamon melts were “designed to allow a cinnamon roll to be eaten in the car.” KFC has expanded its Snacker line of small sandwiches.
Building a better drive-thru begins with knowing what the consumer wants and values. Interestingly, the top-two methods used by chains (75 percent) for evaluating drive-thru service are internal—holding conversations with customers and crew members and employing internal customer service staff. Somewhat less frequently used (50 percent) were focus groups, online surveys, and telephone surveys. In open questions, only one chain said its customer feedback system was an important component to its drive-thru service.
In the end the question of building a better drive-thru begins with where consumers think improvements are needed. A negative discrepancy between the percent who find a particular factor important and the percent who are satisfied with the industry’s performance exists in every area except appearance (overall and drive-thru), menu variety, hours of service, and payment card acceptance. Factors with a spread of seven points or more between importance to the customer and his satisfaction were accuracy, customer service, speed of service, speaker communications, and the presence of an order-confirmation board.
So, a focus on the basics is in order. Get the order right, deliver it in a reasonable amount of time, and appreciate the customer. Continue working on that, and the consumers will feel it.