See what’s speeding up today’s drive-thrus
These latest innovations are boosting order speed and accuracy.
QSR Media interviewed industry insiders and discovered some of the emerging tools, systems and technology that drive-thrus are now using to quicken their service times while still keeping quality in check.
Touch Screen Ordering Back-Ups
Tanya Gilchrist, Director of Rock Paper Scissors, a gourmet fish and chips eatery, revealed that they have created a back-up system to support their touch screen ordering point for when the drive-thru queue becomes particularly long.
“Our touch screen ordering is backed up with PDA’s [personal digital assistants] that enable staff to go into the queue and take orders from cars when the queue is long. This keeps the window time very quick, keeps the queue moving and gives us more time to prepare orders.”
Gilchrist said such contingency plans are a necessity for all QSR’s, but especially for less established chains who may lose customers from a single bad experience.
“Make sure you have your processes right to get orders out quickly and accurately. Unless you are one of the ‘big’ names in drive-thru, people won’t come back if you get it wrong or take too long.”
Gilchrist also shared how it has continuously worked to make its touch screen ordering system more user-friendly and self-explanatory while making it effective in facilitating ‘warm’ upselling. It has also reaped the brand some positive buzz.
“Being first to introduce touch screen drive-thru ordering in Australia provided a way for us to immediately connect with customers in a way that said ‘we are leaders in our market,’” added Gilchrist.
Headsets and Digital Confirmation Screens
The most successful drive-thrus now rely on technology such as headsets and digital order confirmation screens, said Chris Close, Director Global Operations, Summit Innovations, a manufacturer of drive-thru equipment.
Drive-thrus need “great headsets for communicating to the customer and for the restaurant to hear and process the order,” said Close, as well as digital order confirmation screens which improves production speed and efficiency by letting the customer “see their order as they are ordering them, correct or confirm at the point of origin.”
Live Tracking Speed of Service
Some successful franchisees are also finding success by live tracking speed of service across multiple drive-thrus via the use of a timing system. Chris Retzos, one of largest franchisees in Australia for KFC, with 40 restaurants operating in Melbourne and other cities across Victoria, attests to the service improvements borne from using a timing system.
“Another area that was hugely important to us was the live tracking of our speed of service results, with our restaurant staff being able to see live results as they go, so management can make live changes on shift to streamline their operation. The order screens also rank how all the other restaurants using Summit within our organization are placed throughout the day, driving a competitive atmosphere – which is great for our customers, as well as our results,” said Retzos.
Worth the Cost
Even though faster and more efficient systems often come with high price tags, Retzos said these are often worth the cost.
“As with all things, to deliver fast, efficient and consistent service, our operations need to be a well oiled machine – all parts need to be in tune to work effectively. It is important that you have the right systems in place to support your staff, and as technology changes, so do the systems. It is important to invest in this technology and the training behind it to ensure that we continue to grow,” added Retzos.
