Consumers Don’t Care That Chick-fil-A Has The Slowest Drive-Thru Among QSRs

Drive-thru business is booming, with 39% of consumers using drive-thrus more this year than last year, according to the National Restaurant Association. Industry experts credit longer commutes as the culprit for this uptick in convenient food access. 

“It’s important to understand what has gone on in terms of the amount of time an individual spends commuting now,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the National Restaurant Association as reported by Forbes. “The increased work and commute time commitments have aligned with a long-term societal change, which has led to the long-term growth of drive-thrus.” 

In the same article, Forbes also reported that in the 2019 QSR Drive-Thru Performance Study, Chick-fil-A was lagging behind its competitors by a full 39 seconds. That may not seem like much, but everyone knows how long even one minute can feel when you’re hangry. While Chick-fil-A came in dead last at 323 seconds, McDonald’s was second at 284 and Hardee’s took the bronze at 266.

Comparatively, however, Chick-fil-a does serious numbers. According to the study by QSR, “more than 35% of the chain’s restaurants have six-plus vehicles in line at any given time.” That’s a lot of traffic.

If that number doesn’t seem so bad, consider that the next closest competitor is McDonald’s, at only 9%. Additionally, 60% of Chick-fil-A drive-thrus often have enthusiastically friendly employees taking orders before customers even get to the window. A Chick-fil-A drive-thru employee even recently jumped through the window to save a choking child, although don’t count on that as standard protocol. 

In all seriousness, Chick-fil-A recently snagged the title of Gen Z’s favorite restaurant two years in a row, and regularly proves that customer satisfaction goes a long way. While more and more QSRs are turning towards automation to cut costs, Chick-fil-A has been steadfast in making the customer experience its top priority—and the numbers don’t lie. 

Read the full report on Forbes here.