Article

Drive-thrus: Who needs 'em?

Restaurants can function without a drive-thru, but it will take serious operational considerations to be successful.

August 20, 2019

By Allyson Klineman, director, restaurant practice lead, T3

Drive-thrus will be no more in the city of Minneapolis as the city council passed an ordinance earlier this month banning restaurants and banks from building new ones.

"We've already restricted drive-throughs over the years in a number of ways, through pedestrian-oriented overlay districts and other tools," said Council president Lisa Bender, according to MPRNews. "There's a map included in the materials allowed today and it's actually quite limited today, but this just says that we will not have any new drive-thrus in the future," Bender said.

And while the city is the first of its size to ban drive-thrus, it won't be the last, and we can' be surprised. Frankly, drive-thrus, as we know them today, aren't efficient. They introduce unnecessary friction as guests order onsite and wait in a long line for food. This inefficiency results in cars sitting idly, negatively impacting our environment.

Don't believe me? Let's start with some math. Assuming a drive-thru brand serves roughly 50 million customers a day and each customer waits approximately 3 minutes we get 2,500,000 hours of idling per day. Yikes. With customers burning 0.7 gallons per hour, according to weather.com, then we can expect 1,7500,000 gallons of fuel burned in a single drive-thru every day. With approximately 20 pounds of CO2 produced for every gallon of fuel burned, that's 35 million pounds of CO2 released into our atmosphere every day, by just one brand. Double yikes!

So, the question we have to ask is what can restaurant brands do to combat drive-thru inefficiency and prepare for future bans that follow Minneapolis? 

Drive-thrus have been at the center of operational discussions for some time as QSR concepts generate two-thirds of their sales or more through these portals. As a result, it's very likely these brands will begin reevaluating their presence in these markets. Their actions will, in turn, change the competitive landscape. Brands that are able to successfully provide their customers with a superior ordering experience to replace the traditional drive-thru model will prevail. But what does this shift look like in the ever-changing restaurant space? 

Growth of order-ahead experiences and delivery 

Customers expect more from restaurant brands today than ever before. Now customers expect to order from an app, choose their own pick-up time and also want to be able to drive up to receive their food right away. Providing an improved "just-in-time" ordering experience means precise notifications, designated in-store pickup areas (with a separate line for delivery couriers), designated parking and more. Cava, for example, is taking the friction out of the drive-thru completely by offering Pick-Up By Car.

It is also worth calling out that there will be a natural tendency for the drive-thru preferring customer to spend a larger share of their wallet at locations that have been grandfathered in. In order to maintain their share of the market, restaurants will need to replace the drive-thru experience with something better. This challenge is two-fold in that the experience not only needs to drive on par convenience and utility, but needs to motivate a behavioral change. This becomes increasingly important when, for example, a brand is hoping to motivate a mother of three to choose it over a nearby drive-thru concept when that mother has a trio of cranky toddlers in car seats, all waiting in the Texas heat. Understanding what motivates your customer becomes mission critical

Beyond providing an alternative to the traditional drive-thrus, brands will also need to assess and evaluate their existing order ahead strategy for to-go and in-store enjoyment. Restaurants can prepare by focusing on an improved, more customized in-store experience overall and consider new store design with designated lines for app users and delivery couriers where possible. 

Optimizing your delivery strategy early is key as I anticipate that there will be another big push toward delivery and a rise in ghost kitchens to meet customer demand in a different way. 

Lastly, it is important to recognize that sustainability initiatives and regulations will continue to impact the industry in the long term. There is mutual responsibility for both brands and customers to evaluate their environmental impact if we want to continue breathing clean air while enjoying endless cheeseburgers. Following the ban on plastic bags and straws in certain states, brands should proactively evaluate ways in which they can positively impact our planet. Is there an opportunity to own this a part of your brand identity? Simple changes such as the option to go without plastic cutlery on delivery orders or a switch compostable packaging are a great place to start. As is sourcing locally and giving back to local communities. 
 

Photo: iStock