The Future of Drive Thru Technology

The drive-thru is a convenient option to save time and avoid parking and traffic, but with the rise of mobile ordering, the days of only driving up and receiving your order are quickly coming to an end.

Drive-thrus are already fusing with technology that allows customers to order their food before they even leave home, as well as seamless in-store experience with self-ordering kiosks and interactive displays. Here's what you need to know about the future of drive thru technology and in-store restaurant ordering.

The Rise of Mobile Ordering

Research has found that 40 percent of foodservice companies are now offering some form of mobile ordering. This number will only continue to grow as more restaurants and chains make it available, but the key is to fuse mobile ordering with your drive thru to create the newest pick-up/drive thru experience, just like Pizza Hut and their “Hut Lanes”.

This eliminates the need for someone to take an order while you're waiting in your car—it can all be done from your car, office, or couch! Mobile ordering also benefits businesses by making it easy for them to offer delivery service without having to add staff or invest in expensive equipment.

In fact, 30% of restaurants reported that they were able to expand their delivery business thanks to their mobile app in general. That's a great way to get more business while reducing costs!

But mobile ordering isn't just about convenience and cost savings; it can also help advance a business' marketing strategy. When a customer places an order through a mobile device, they're opening themselves up to marketing messages that can come up after placing an order.

If you’re interested in developing a good strategy for mobile ordering, phone ordering, or drive thru automation, contact OrderSolutions to learn about the latest technology available and try a FREE pilot!

Self-Ordering Kiosks

Starbucks is leading the way by introducing its own version of self-ordering kiosks that will allow customers to order drinks and food without talking to anyone else in the store. Other establishments like McDonald's and Burger King are also introducing digital kiosks that will let customers peruse menus, customize orders, pay for meals, and pick up their food without ever seeing a cashier.

In addition to cutting down wait times, these kiosks may prove more efficient and cost-effective by reducing labor costs because customers need only interact with the machines themselves—not with employees behind the counter.

Taco Bell and Dunkin' Donuts have also announced plans to test kiosks in select stores over the next year.

Restaurant owners can combine self-ordering kiosks phone order automation to create the ultimate, streamlined system for their customers and completely alleviate in-store pressure on their employees. The staffing shortage in the restaurant industry has caused tremendous stress on employees to handle more tasks than usual, decreasing in-store efficiency and revenue in general.

Check out some of these stats:

* 68 percent of millennials admit they would rather use a voice-activated device than speak with an actual person for customer service.

* 70 percent of adults use a smart speaker in their home or office daily.

* 64 percent of consumers feel most comfortable interacting with a company through a chatbot instead of a human agent, and many even prefer bots over humans!

If you would like to set up phone order automation, a chatbot, or other new technology for your restaurant brand, reach out to OrderSolutions today!

Conclusion

The drive-thru is not going away anytime soon, but for many customers, it will be a place to pick up their pre-ordered food and go. For those customers who want to stay and eat, the ordering process will change dramatically as well. Instead of taking their order from a person, customers will order from machines or kiosks and then hand over their identification before they're allowed to enter and pick up their food.

The future of the drive-thru is sure to be an exciting one.