There are many trends that potential and veteran franchisees must consider before investing in a new venture. These trends are not limited to patterns in consumer tastes and also include telling shifts in the industry. One recent trend that franchise investors should consider following is the changing nature of the drive-thru. Once limited to the quick-service sector, the drive-thru is beginning to appear in more diverse locations. Customer perceptions of drive-thrus are subsequently changing, and potential franchisees following this transition are in a better position to ride a pending drive-thru boom.
Drive-thrus drive sales
Billions of dollars of sales are driven by drive-thru orders each year – USA Today reports that up to 70 percent of the food industry's annual $299 billion revenues are generated from customers pulling up to the second window. Drive-thrus offer a convenient, speedy method of taking customer orders and delivering food within a short time period. The rapid, routine sales generated by successful drive-thrus are also important for offsetting the increased labor costs that come with delivering food straight to the customer's vehicle, according to Entrepreneur. Drive-thru sales are also tied to location. High traffic areas near large college campuses or business parks, for example, provide prime opportunities to serve the needs of thousands of hungry customers as they speed through their daily lives.
Quick-service losing speed
Quick-service franchises are the heart of the drive-thru phenomenon, so trends that impact the entire industry often originate in the fast food sector. While drive-thru service at quick-service joints is still quite speedy (Wendy's, the nation's quickest drive-thru, averaged just under 134 seconds per order in 2013), a significant volume of quick-service franchises are beginning to slow down at the drive-thru, according to Statista. This slowdown has driven primarily by increased quality and complexity of items served at quick-service restaurants. Fast food restaurants have invested heavily in premium menu items and limited-time offers as a means of staving off competition from the fast-casual sector. Ironically, this move by quick-service franchises to mimic the fast casual dining experience has in turn prompted the rival sector to begin experimenting with drive-thrus.
Fast casual goes mobile
QSR Magazine reports that more and more food franchises outside the fast food sector are experimenting with drive-thrus, including Which Wich and Panera Bread. Juan Martinez, co-founder of consulting firm Profitality, notes that the expansion into drive-thrus reflects fast-casual franchises chasing the incremental growth that quick-serve restaurants enjoyed in the past. Key to this next tier of expansion is reaching out to reclaim customers lost to the convenience of a fast food drive-thru.
Attaching a drive-thru to existing fast casual chains is not as easy as it sounds. Current franchises are often located in areas that would be inaccessible to a steady flow of vehicles. Other brands are held back by the challenge of making menus drive-thru-friendly. It will be several years before the fast-casual sector masters art of the drive-thru, but the venture is sure to be profitable when it succeeds. Ambitious franchisees looking for a forward-thinking brand partner should consider a franchise with plans for a new drive-thru strategy.