Photo: Chick-fil-A
August 1, 2023
Will Chick-fil-A’s New Pickup Concepts Reduce Wait Times?
Chick-fil-A plans to test two digital-first store designs — an elevated drive-thru and walk-up concept — in another effort to tackle pickup’s biggest pain point: long wait times.
In a press release, Khalilah Cooper, executive director of restaurant design for Chick-fil-A, said digital orders make up more than half of total sales in some markets and continue to expand. She said, “The locations for these tests were intentionally selected with the customers in mind, giving them more control over their desired experience and cutting down wait-time, while continuing to provide genuine hospitality and care to every guest.”
Both locations are scheduled to open in 2024.
The drive-thru concept, to be tested in Atlanta, will feature four drive-thru lanes, two of which will be dedicated to mobile order pickups. The lanes will run under a kitchen twice the size of typical Chick-fil-A locations. Orders will travel through an overhead conveyor belt connected with chutes that run down the sides. Employees will still deliver food to cars.
The walk-up concept, to be tested in New York City, will serve as a point-of-pickup for mobile orders to better manage heavy traffic in urban areas. GPS tracking tied to mobile apps will help ensure the customer receives their order fresh. Limited walk-in options are available.
The 22nd Annual Drive-Thru Study by Intouch Insight, in partnership with QSR magazine, found Chick-fil-A tied with Carl’s Jr. at No. 1 for drive-thru “satisfaction with service” in 2022. However, Chick-fil-A had the longest average drive-thru wait and service time (eight minutes and 29 seconds) because it averages 4.74 cars in its drive-thru, much higher than the average of 2.76 cars among the 10 chains analyzed.
Long lines of cars waiting to place and pick up orders at drive-thrus often cause congestion and safety issues, leading towns and cities nationwide to consider banning new drive-thrus.
However, a recent survey of 2,000 U.S. adults from Dutch Bros. shows drive-thru remains highly popular despite the wait times. Twice as many people preferred using the drive-thru to going inside a fast-food restaurant or coffee shop, with 47% indicating that they’d avoid going to an establishment that didn’t have a drive-thru option.
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What aspects of Chick-fil-A’s digital-first pickup concepts appear set to advance the drive-thru experience? What are the biggest pain points around drive-thru?
Poll
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Richard J. George, Ph.D.
Professor of Food Marketing, Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph's University
David Naumann
Marketing Strategy Lead - Retail, Travel & Distribution, Verizon
Shep Hyken
Chief Amazement Officer, Shepard Presentations, LLC
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Chick-fil-A has some of the longest lines of all the fast-food players. While this is a testament to its popularity it can be frustrating for customers, and it is also disliked by nearby retailers and by property owners/managers because of the congestion it causes. Anything that increases volume and speed is welcome, and some of the advances in the new format such as an increased number of lanes, dedicated lanes for pre-placed mobile orders, and a bigger kitchen should help to ease the pressure.
Chik-fil-A left its dining rooms closed long after COVID restrictions were lifted as they had become so efficient with the Drive-Thru process. Most now have double drive-thru lanes and while wait times are longer, I’ve always found them quite efficient. I predict the Atlanta concept will be successful and many new locations will apply this concept. I see some of the current locations converting by since every location is operated by a single proprietor, they would have to be willing to take on the expense and lost revenue of making the conversion.
The drive-thru throughput has been one of Chick-fil-A’s ongoing constraints for revenue potential for many locations. They have been very innovative at optimizing the drive-thru experience and this is another creative concept to maximize the revenue per location. Great ideas come from great companies.
Taco Bell in Minnesota launched this concept, calling it Taco Bell Defy in a Minneapolis suburb just over a year ago. Since Chick-fil-A is replicating it, I’m guessing that it is a successful concept and others with high volume drive thrus will follow suit.
I hate lines, however, when I’m going through the drive-through at Chick-fil-A, I don’t mind. My personal experience is the drive-thu is faster than going inside. They staff the drive with competent, friendly people who turn mayhem into tranquility. Okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but it’s not far from the truth. The biggest pain point for Chick-fil-A is proper staffing. It’s expensive to provide a fast drive-thru experience; however, I bet it drives more sales.
It’s ironic that Chick-fil-A’s drive-thru wait problem emanates from its popularity. These initiatives seem to point toward wait time relief. The real question is the amount of time & scalability of these time saving capital investments.
As a long time Atlantan resident, fan and frequent visitor to Chick-fil-A, I have no problem with the wait times, because I know they move faster than nearly any other DT restaurant. Couple this with incredibly polite associates who are thrilled to be working at CFA, and it creates an excellent experience. Chick-fil-A has been experimenting with new DT concepts for many years and I’ve personally seen highly successful CFA locations be imploded only to be rebuilt into a new dual or quad lane DT store. I like the upper kitchen concept and think it will perform exceptionally well. I’ll take a #1 meal with a DCoke, please.
The poll question seems rather…silly: the two concepts are for completely different demographics – center city vs. suburban/rural, so I don’t think it makes much sense to talk about one being more “successful” than the other, outside of how many opportunities for development each presents; I’m guessing the latter, but they really aren’t in competition….not like they’re going to put a walk-up location in the middle of nowhere (and even less likely they’re going to put a multi-lane drive-thru in a downtown).
Tho I’m probably simplifying things a bit, capacity seems to be pretty much an issue of kitchen size, how many servers there are, and how much off-street space is provided; in short, supersize-it!. Even in a digital age, solutions are sometimes really just about “more of the same”.
Improving wait times is one of several metrics to drive this decision. The other keys are customer perceptions of waiting and how that jibes with the brand. Getting customers off busy street, and what feels like a mile long line will do wonders to make them feel better about service, convenience and quality.
Ancillary benefits also come from getting cars away from blocking other businesses, and off roads. Police and local officials are usually very happy with restaurants who improve this.
Full Disclosure First: I am a Chick-Fil-A addict with my most frequent order a southwest chicken salad with large diet dr pepper and lite ice. Now that’s been shared, Chick-Fil-A is doing what successful businesses do – innovate by testing new concepts, processes, products, and services. These are smart experiments and I expect at least one to succeed, hopefully, the drive-through, as in my suburban experience I am often placing my order as I approach the Chick-Fil-A store, choosing my delivery option at the last minute based on the length of the actual drive-through line.
Drive-thru is as much desired as it is begrudged by consumers. Unless you can literally drive right through, nearly any wait time diminishes experience; thanks to our instant gratification culture.
These are bold plans to address drive thru wait. The elevated concept and mobile only lanes seem promising. However, given consumers tendency to linger at walk-up windows, this concept may be back to the drawing board soon.
Still, any merchant taking steps to remove consumer pain-points and improve consumer experience, even if it’s only small steps, is moving in the right direction.