If you sell into the QSR sector – whether that’s hardware or software – this is valuable (and free) reading: the annual QSR Drive-Thru report produced by QSR magazine, which focuses on guess what.
The report is based on site visits at the biggest US chains to generate metrics on such things as speed of service, order accuracy, customer service and taste, with visits spanned across different time windows and around the country, as opposed to just in Chicago or whatever.
The report also gets into trends, such as AI-driven voice ordering and new store formats, like the two-level one opened and being tested by Chick-fil-A.
One mind-wobbling nugget of information: KFC opened a new store every 3.3 hours in 2023. Another: Taco Bell has the fastest drive-thrus.
Also from the report:
Examining broader trends, it begins to crystalize how “speed” itself isn’t losing traction necessarily. It’s the building blocks within that are rising and falling.
Wait time in 2024 was 3 seconds slower than 2023. Service time—how long it takes to get the food to a customer after their order is taken—was 17 seconds faster, year-over-year. Total time was 14 seconds faster.
Total time was 13 seconds better when the volume of the speaker was loud enough to hear the employee. Total time was 27 seconds ahead when the customer didn’t need to repeat their order and 28 seconds faster when the interaction via speaker was “clear and understandable.”
Bringing the point full circle—total time was 28 seconds faster when there was friendly service.
Stating the obvious, if you want to sell into QSR, read as much as you can about what makes it tick and the companies seeing the most growth.