PENNSYLVANIA, USA — For 22 years, the annual Drive-Thru study has covered several core brands in fast food chains.
The study focused on several key points of the drive-thru experience, such as customer satisfaction, wait times, and order accuracy.
Chick-fil-A and Carl's Jr. tied for highest-rated satisfaction with a 95% satisfaction score. Arby's, Dunkin' and Hardee's tied for second place, with a 91% satisfaction score.
Wendy's had the lowest calculated satisfaction score, with 82% of customers completely satisfied with the level of service and friendliness.
In terms of average wait time, Chick-fil-A had the longest recorded times. The average wait time for customers at Chick-fil-A was 183.67 seconds. Wendy's came in second for wait time at 154.84 seconds.
The average wait time across all studied fast food chains was 105.84 seconds.
As for the restaurant with the shortest wait time, Hardee's had an average wait of just under a minute with 50.48 seconds.
Carl's Jr. and KFC placed second and third in quickest wait time, ranging from 57 to 63 seconds each.
KFC also had the quickest average service time for customers at 221.99 seconds. The longest average service time? Chick-fil-A at 325.47 seconds.
However, in terms of the fastest total time by car, Chick-fil-A ranked first. On average, the drive-thru had about 4.74 cars in it.
In order of accuracy, McDonald's and Arby's tied for first place. On average, the two chains had an accuracy rate of 89%. Wendy's had the lowest accuracy rate at 79%.
Overall, the study found that friendliness has decreased over time, which tends to have a severe impact on accuracy and time with customers.
The full study can be found here.
