QSR October 2022

DRIVE - THRU REPORT

 I n 1970, Dave Thomas introducedwhat’s generally labeled the first modern drive-thru, a feature the Wendy’s luminary coined the “Pick-Up Window.” It was so revolutionary guests needed instructions on how to talk through the speaker to place an order. In some ways, the COVID-19 era feels the paradox of this 52-year-old page in fast-food history. Consumers today, according to the survey portion of the 2022 QSR ® Drive-Thru Report, are more satisfied with their drive-thru experience than at the peak of the pandemic. It’s why brands, from Wendy’s to Chipotle to Applebee’s, haven’t dialed back in light of cafes reopening across America. If anything, the COVID stabilizer has become the industry’s most innovative arena. And customer behavior was hardly disrupted the way it was five-plus decades ago. Upgrades such as better signage, sanitation, and, of course, technology, were ticks guests had been waiting for.

WENDY’S

Deepak Ajmani, Wendy’s U.S. chief operations off i cer, has seen this clearly in recent data. The burger chain adopts an “always on” approach highlighted by its Voice of Customer satisfaction survey, as well as employee and social feedback. Of late, the same line revealed by the QSR ® Drive-Thru Report continues to f lash. “Insights from the survey responses have revealed an upward trend in satis faction, indicating that customers are more likely to return to our restaurants,” he says. This year’s QSR ® Drive-Thru Report surveyed more than 1,000 consumers who had visited at least one drive-thru in the previous 30 days. What’s also visible is this rising senti ment owes a good deal to technology. Perhaps the best way to illustrate it is to go back in time again. The f irst drive-thru sprung up in 1947 on Route 66 in Springfield, Missouri. The late Red Chaney’s Red’s Giant Hamburg claims the title, although loose-meat sand wich chain Maid-Rite says the same (a year later in 1948 ). The original In-N-Out Burger—1948 in Los Angeles—is likely the longest-running given Red’s closed in 1984, while Jack in the Box, come 1951, boasts the definition of the first drive-thru-focused chain to open as such, which it did at a time when car culture lit up the landscape. But semantics aside, the concept was straightforward at creation—provide a counter to the carhop service consum ers were familiar with. And it was billed as more convenient for guests and restaurants alike. Guests responded. So it bears asking what are diners giving restaurants credit for at the drive-thru today, and why is that shooting satisfaction higher? When asked what the top two reasons they choose to order using the drive-thru were, per this year’s study, guests picked “Convenience” and “Speed of Service.” Similar to last year’s edition, it’s become crystal those factors aren’t tied at the hip any longer. In fact, one is holding fort while the other ebbs. Seventy-eight percent of customers picked convenience as their No. 1 drive-thru draw. That figure was 79 percent last year and 75 percent in 2020. Speed of service, meanwhile, clocked in at 42 per cent, a full 9 percentage points down, year-over-year ( it was

45 percent in 2020 ). For vital factors driving future drive thru visits—what would inspire a repeat trip—more than half (58 percent ) indicated order accuracy was most impor tant. It was more than twice the second metric, speed of service, at 23 percent. A menuboard placed ahead of the ordering speaker (18 percent ) , order confirmation screens (18 percent ) , and the

ability to pay withmobile phone or app (11 percent ) rounded out the top 5. This isn’t to say speed of service at the drive-thru has become obsolete through the COVIDwindow. Customers in the survey said they’d be will ing to spend 13 minutes when ordering through a drive-thru ( same as last year and a minute higher than 2020). They noted they typically wait 10 minutes and think 8 is ideal. Respondents considered it reasonable and fair to spend just under 6 minutes prior to ordering; 4.95 minutes between placing order and picking up; 4.72 parked in a separate wait ing area at pickup when order was not ready; and 3.38 plac ing their order. Speed now is simply a more involved transaction that res taurants can inf luence from fresh angles. Despite reopening dining rooms, Ajmani says drive-thru has remainedWendy’s custom ers’ preferred way of interacting with the brand, and it’s due to

WENDY’S OMNICHANNEL EFFORTS ARE TAKING HOLD AS CAPACITY IN THE DRIVE-THRU REMAINS HIGH.

WENDY’S / RILEY SNELLING

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OCTOBER 2022 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com