New infrastructure and service approaches to the in-car fast food model aspire to higher levels of efficiency than ever, but is this the only metric operators and franchisees should be considering?

A triple threat of delivery platforms, social distancing and economic turbulence has seen the restaurant industry facing a generational crisis. But while both casual and fine-dining establishments scramble to adapt to this new landscape, the fast-food and quick-service sector has been better placed to weather the storm; even during the global pandemic that saw most fall steeply in the red, McDonald’s still managed a 0.4 per cent rise through 2020 for a sixth straight year of growth. 

Guests have rarely ventured to fast-food venues for the sparkling experience, nor the quality of the food for that matter. Rather, it is the promise of efficiency and speed that has long been the draw. More recently, however, the array of options offered by franchises like McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC et al in terms of how guests can take their order has emerged as an ace up the sleeve. Where most restaurants are geared towards binary options of eat in or take-home, fast-food outlets are designed around offering guests the choice of both, and long have been. 

Especially advantageous in the past 18 months has been the presence of a drive-thru lane, which account for some 70 per cent of all fast-food sales according to the New York Times, and largely retained this level of use through the pandemic. It is no coincidence that COVID-19 testing centres adopted the model, such is its reputation for structured, orderly and timely service. 

Now, as operators and designers alike work to reconcile emerging guest preferences with the growing demand for choice, is the drive-thru model primed to undergo an evolution and reach beyond the fast-food market, or has the optimized ideal already been achieved? 

150 Starbucks locations are now earmarked for renovations aimed at optimizing drive-thru capabilities.

Efficiency is everything

When Starbucks closed over 800 of its North American outlets in March 2020, it was not strictly a sign of crisis. 'The closures are part of the trade area transformation initiative that we announced in June to accelerate the evolution of our store footprint in metro centres,' said Patrick Grismer, the chain’s Executive Vice President and CFO in an earnings call. 'This clears the way for the development of new, more efficient retail store formats that cater the customers' increasing desire for convenience, while also improving trade area profitability.' 

Combined with mobile order, drive-thru accounted for close to 90 per cent of Starbucks’ Q3 sales volume, up from 60 per cent pre-COVID. Subsequently it was announced that employees would adopt the Chick-fil-A approach of staff taking orders in the queue with tablets to speed the process up. Since then, the chain has reported improved out-of-window times, with drive-thru stores fuelling more than half of the company’s net sales. 150 locations are now earmarked for renovations aimed at optimizing drive-thru capabilities, while a series of drive-thru-only venues are also in the works. Efficiency is clearly the name of the game.  

Elsewhere, Taco Bell has taken things a step further, designing a dedicated concept store built to service its drive-thru offer. Comprising four lanes at ground level with the kitchen overhead, Taco Bell Defy will see guests ordering via QR code and collecting their order via a lift delivery system. And they’re not the only chain to be experimenting with the format – Burger King has revealed similar plans for a suspended kitchen, while factoring in a dedicated line for delivery drivers.

While much of this strategy is motivated by efficiency, these smaller footprints also speak to the rising cost of urban space, and so too the scrutiny some drive-thru lanes are facing from environmental activists. In 2019, Minneapolis became the fourth and largest US city to ban new drive-thru windows in a bid to curb traffic emissions. Sensing this pushback, McDonald’s launched a walk-thru billboard – an early signal of the model’s diversification beyond an automobile affair. 

Burger chain Shake Shack will open its first drive-thru in Orlando later this year.

Technology drive 

Beyond infrastructural alterations, an influx of technology is playing an equally important role in the drive-thru revolution. Built into Taco Bell Defy is a lane prioritizing orders made through its dedicated app, whilst Delphi Display Systems has developed a video-kiosk ordering system for a New Jersey-based Chick-fil-A franchise to service and enable higher volume through its five-lane operation. However, it is not only hardware that is set to bringing about change. 

Express pick-up technology leveraged by McDonalds alerts crew to prep orders based on customer proximity, whilst excursions into AI have seen the same company employ algorithms to analyse drive-thru data and deliver locally adapted menus and digital signage. 'By analysing and understanding buying patterns based on local conditions guests will be shown relevant food and drink suggestions for that specific restaurant, at that specific minute/hour/day,' Anders Apelgren, CEO at Visual Art – the signage partner behind the project – tells Digital Signage Today. 'We believe that a bigger percentage of the menu will be controlled by algorithms and that third party data such as weather and calendar will be added. This will not only drive average check but also create an overall better guest experience in McDonald's restaurants.' 

Artificial intelligence and the incorporation of optimization technology is the logical evolution for a model preoccupied with efficiency above all, though – as with the emission issue – we may soon see resistance. Not all guests will be so eager to be reduced to data points, and while experiential dining is far from the goal in drive-thru lanes, keeping the guest happy is still at the forefront of the operation. 

As such, McDonald’s latest voice-recognition software, currently in the trail phase across select Chicago outlets, has caught the ire of one guest who is now suing the chain amid concerns that its legality and use without prior approval are in violation of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act. With issues of privacy and the invasiveness of certain technologies increasingly prominent in the public sphere, the next step for the drive-thru could face an obstacle – how much guests are willing to give over to fast-food chains in the name of speed and convenience will dictate the direction of this revolution.