Does Pushing Tech on QSRs Produce Too Much Friction?

In an interesting new report issued by Canopy titled “Fast Food Fault Lines,” the study authors indicated that while tech integrations were proliferating apace in the fast food and QSR spaces, the end result was more problematic than many restaurant PR staffers might be inclined to admit.

“In a national survey of frontline QSR employees, Canopy found that technology interruptions are a routine part of their shifts. System reliability issues outweigh training or confidence as the primary source of disruption, even though 80% of employees report feeling adequately trained. When systems freeze, go offline, or fail to sync, employees rely on manual fixes and inconvenient workarounds to keep service moving,” the intro to the report read, also noting that the median tenure in frontline QSR work currently stood at a mere two years.

“These technical disruptions are most common at locations where multiple ordering channels operate simultaneously, such as drive-thru, kiosk, and mobile. In these environments, employees spend more time reconciling systems and managing handoffs than those in locations with fewer ordering channels,” it added.

Among the standout findings presented by Canopy’s survey data:

• Kiosks are everywhere, but they’re not perfect: More than four-fifths (81%) of frontline QSR workers indicated they were called off other duties on a regular basis to deal with problems surrounding self-serve kiosks, with more than half (56%) saying this happens on a daily basis. Further, a slim majority (53%) stated that they have seen customers walk away from an order due to a related tech issue.
• Employees say mobile orders are fraught: Stating that mobile orders are among the hardest to manage, more than a third (36%) of QSR employees surveyed stated that mobile orders do not display on the POS or kitchen display system, causing confusion at baseline. More than a quarter (28%) suggested that mobile orders simply arrive all at once, or arrive late on a regular basis — and half of survey respondents said that they’d observed customers abandoning mobile orders, as compared to just 29% who observed order abandonment in restaurants without mobile apps.
• Drive-thru problems persist, and it’s not AI’s fault: While AI drive-thru order taking is slowly ramping up, Canopy’s survey results indicate that POS systems and payment terminals are presenting the bulk of today’s problems. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of QSR workers regularly witness drive-thru tech issues, with the card reader refusing to accept payment (38%), the POS being knocked offline (31%), the timer being wrong or missing vehicles (28%), and the tablet being sluggish or losing connection (23%) being the most common obstacles cited. Again, more than half (54%) of drive-thru staff said they’d seen customers abandon orders over tech faults.

And according to Steve Latham, CEO of Canopy, this data — and more findings — underlies a truth that today’s tech integrations are incomplete, sometimes misguided in finding solutions, and perhaps most importantly are taking labor away from other vital duties.

“The fast food and fast casual restaurant of 2026 depends on dozens of technologies working together to give employees leverage and customers an easy, consistent experience,” Latham said.

“Whether in the drive-thru, ordering at the kiosk, or using the mobile app, our research shows that tech problems cascade into disruptions in service, taking employees away from their jobs while frustrating customers enough that they leave. QSR operators need holistic visibility into the health and performance of every component in the restaurant tech stack plus an automated way to fix issues should they occur, if not before,” he added.