The results of the 2009 Quick Service Drive-thru Performance Study are in, and Chick-fil-A is still the overall ‘best’ drive-thru in America.  Behind Chick-fil-A, the overall top performers in this year’s study were Taco Bell, Del Taco, Krystal, and Wendy’s.  There was some major movement. For example, McDonald’s fell to 7th from 2nd, all of 2008’s top five also performed well again this year.  Burger King fell three places from 3rd to 6th.  Wendy’s, which once again topped the service speed category, slipped from 4th to 5th due in large part to its 14th place finish in order accuracy.  Del Taco improved to 3rd this year from 5th in 2008.   

Wendy’s legendary service speed again landed it atop the speed of service category with an average of approximately 134 seconds per vehicle.  This represents three (3) seconds longer per vehicle than 2008’s average of approximately 131 seconds per vehicle.   Note, however, that the average number of vehicles in line for Wendy’s jumped all the way up to a three year high at 1.77 (from 1.68 in 2007 to 1.48 in 2008).  As such, Wendy’s appears to be processing more customers in the same amount of time this year than it did in either of the past two years.  

Del Taco finished 2nd in speed of service with an average time of approximately 150 seconds per vehicle, all the way up from 13th in 2008 where it averaged over 188 seconds per vehicle.  Remarkably, Del Taco also had more customers in line this year than last.  The 150 seconds per vehicle is very similar to last year’s second place finisher in service speed (Bojangle’s), which had averaged just over 151 seconds (2nd in 2007, Checker’s, averaged approximately 152 seconds per vehicle).  Taco Bell moved up to 3rd in 2009 from 4th in 2008, despite an increase of about eight (8) seconds per vehicle to approximately 163 seconds per vehicle.  Burger King is the 2009 4th place speed of service finisher at nearly 167 seconds per vehicle, up from 153 seconds per vehicle in 2008 when it finished 3rd. 

Many had predicted that the QSR industry was one of a few that may actually benefit from the recession and weak economy as consumers tightened their belts – money belt, that is.  Based on the amount of traffic in QSR drive-thru’s during data collection in 2009 for this study, it appears that there was increased traffic, as the average number of other vehicles in line during the 2008 Study was 1.37 while it was 1.58 during the 2009 Study.  This of course cannot be taken completely at face value (despite being an average) since this year’s study included five fewer chains than last year (I.e. the excluded chains may have skewed the data up or down).  It should be noted, however, that 15 of the 20 chains included in 2009 had more traffic this year than last. 

As many may already be aware, it is important to note the impact that the number of vehicles in line has on speed of service.  To illustrate, Wendy’s average service speed when there were 2 or fewer other vehicles in line was 120.25 seconds, as compared to its average of 166.62 seconds when there were 3-5 other vehicles in line.  Also note that speed of service based on our definition excludes the time the customer waits in line prior to reaching the speaker.

In addition to customer count, another factor impacting speed of service that has become more prominent over the past few years is the emergence and corresponding impact of different payment options that are now available to consumers.  Ten years ago finding a QSR that accepted some form of electronic payment would have been difficult.  Within the past few years electronic payment acceptance has become relatively standard within the industry.  A methodology change this year designed to better reflect these changes in the drive-thru environment called for Insula’s researchers to make 20% of their purchases using a credit card.  (This 20% standard is the result of feedback from several chains when asked for an approximate percentage of credit card customers versus cash customers.)  Interestingly, at those restaurants where the researcher made his/her purchase using a credit card, the average service time was 172.2 seconds.  At those restaurants where the researcher paid with cash, the average service time was 193.5 seconds.  When looking at the speed differences between cash and card within chains there is not enough consistency to make a broad assessment, so this aggregate metric doesn’t necessarily mean that the entire difference can be attributed to the card element of the transaction (particularly since there are other vehicles in line).  However, it is noteworthy.  Given the revenue and profitability implications of speed in the drive-thru, it would seem worthy of a much closer look for those franchisees who are interested in saving time with little more effort than a technology shift in payment acceptance. 

In related research conducted by Insula, it was determined that the effectiveness and speed with which card transactions were handled at the test restaurants was due to the function of crew training.  Specifically, when the crew was familiar with card acceptance it appeared to save time, presumably because there was no need to count change or cash in either direction – neither customer to crew nor crew to customer.  When the crew was not familiar with card acceptance, transaction times slowed, as they had to find a manager or experienced crewmember to guide them through the process.  This learning is important as we see card companies and banks issuing Contactless cards – cards that the customer retains possession of throughout a transaction and simply taps or waves in front of a properly equipped reader to initiate authorization.  The implication is that once consumers are ‘trained’ to effectively use Contactless technology, transaction speeds for the entire industry could benefit.  Furthermore, if the industry would, as a whole, adapt a similar configuration for handling customer-activated card transactions (i.e. so customers do not have to re-learn where and when to present their card at each different restaurant or chain), the entire industry would benefit more rapidly from the available technology.

Turning our attention to order accuracy, Chick-fil-A finished as the most accurate chain in 2009, fulfilling 96.4% of this year’s orders accurately.  This is consistent with its first place finishes of 97.1% last year, and 95.2% accuracy in 2007.  In second was Jack in the Box at 94.7% (compared to Culver’s at 95.2% last year).  Krystal Burger moved up from 5th to 3rd despite a nearly identical 94.4% versus 94.6% in 2008.  Taco Bell was next at 93.1%, which moved it all the way from 13th in 2008.  Whataburger rounded out the top five at 91.8%, which was a tremendous improvement from the 87.4% accuracy rate it posted in the 2008 Study.

Chick-fil-A had the best communications with researchers via the communications systems, with 99.5% of interactions rated as “clear and understandable”.  White Castle’s 2009 accomplishment of 97.6% would have been good enough for first place just about any other year, but landed it in 2nd this year.  Rounding out the top five were McDonald’s, Hardee’s and Rally’s (Hardee’s and Rally’s tied.)  Overall the 2009 average was 93.6%, compared to 91.5% in 2008. 

In 2008, 100% of the Krystal Burger restaurants visited as part of this research were rated as having menuboards that were considered clean and well maintained.  This year that distinction goes to Whataburger.  In addition to Whataburger’s 100%, Checker’s and Rally’s both finished this year with over 99% of their menuboards rated as “clean and well maintained”.  McDonald’s and White Castle rounded out the top five, while Popeye’s trailed the field at 89.4%.  Overall, nearly 96.3% of the restaurants visited as a part of this study met that standard. 

The friendliest service in the country this year appears to have been delivered by employees at Chick-fil-A.  44.8% of Chick-fil-A interactions included service with a smile, eye contact, and a pleasant demeanor including “please” and “thank you”.  

Although we all know by now that it is not accurate to rely on stereotypes to draw conclusions, we also know that, generally speaking, there is frequently some truth behind many of them that have evolved.  Unfortunately, in QSR a widely held belief is that service levels will be weak, or in some cases downright rude.  Although this is distressing to many within the industry, we have to be honest enough to admit that where there’s smoke there’s often fire.  It’s rather difficult to shake such a stereotype when we see that for the second year running, the associate at the pay window failed to thank the researcher for his/her business at nearly 21% of the restaurants.  Also, at over 35% of the restaurants, researchers did not have the impression that service was provided in a “pleasant demeanor”.  Perhaps one reason for this impression is the fact that in less than 40% of the interactions an associate said “please” when asking for payment.

Some chains certainly did better than others in the customer service category.  Customers at Jack in the Box, closely followed by Whataburger, were most likely to get thanked for their business.  Jack in the Box was also the only chain to say “please” to our researchers in more than 50% of the interactions.  Chick-fil-A associates appeared the happiest to serve, as nearly 86% of its window associates provided service with a smile.