Drive-thru Break-Through

Flash back to 1960. McDonald’s. You pull up to a window, give them your order, sit and wait for a few and viola, you get a bag full of goodies and now get to hang out in the parking lot with your friends. Such a novel idea. No long lines, no hassle and you can keep the radio blaring while talking and munching those delicious tidbits your mom could never make taste like that.

Fast forward to 2021. You’re at one of 20 fast food restaurants near you. You pull up to a board. A staticy voice grunts, you tell said noise what you want, pull up further, pay, get your food and rush off. All in about five minutes total time.

Point being, restaurant drive-thrus haven’t really evolved that much and might even have devolved into something worse… in 61 years! None of the “improvements”, other than suspicious, quality questionable speed, can be viewed as ‘customer driven ideas’. Just better ops for the operators. But do consumers care? After all, 74% of Americans use a drive-thru at least once a month.

Recently, 3 story drive-under, AI operated, robot delivery, mega drive-thrus popped up all around the US. At last, some innovation. We think?? But our question (always) is, what does the consumer want from a drive-thru in this age of constant change?? We asked consumers “how would you rate the following drive-thru concepts?

Download our free POV to find out what concepts the consumer prefers.