Insight #008:Reshaping QSRs To Meet Changing Demands

Convenience, speed, and personalization are driving customer expectations for QSRs – and keeping up operations is proving a tricky game for leading hospitality brands.

Rather than focusing on incremental efficiency changes, evidence points to the need for significant strategic overhauls for QSR franchises to stay afloat. Here’s what should be front of mind when it comes to providing exceptional service while also sharpening your competitive edge:

Optimize digital touchpoints

Among all the dramatic cultural shifts instigated by the pandemic, touchless customer interaction has proven itself to be beneficial for both consumers and businesses.

Allowing customers to have more control over their experience, digital interfaces are quickly becoming the preferred method for QSR ordering and payment. Safer, quicker, and intuitive, mobile app and web-based ordering has been on the rise for every major QSR since 2020 (thanks in no small part to pandemic restrictions).

?To maintain an edge in today’s competitive market, restaurants should prioritize robust, integrated POS technology to prepare for a truly omnichannel business strategy.

“An omnichannel approach ultimately relies on your operational backbone,” says John LaPorte, TASK’s President of North America. “The design of your tech stack within the backbone will heavily influence how quickly you can develop, maintain and track your relationships with customers to make sure you’re constantly building a better experience.”

Use AI to boost customer loyalty

QSR retailers have identified artificial intelligence as the centerpoint for developing more personalized customer experiences. Mass-consumer marketing has taken a huge sidestep, and made way for building individualized relationships between customers and brands.?

AI technology is proving its worth among some of the world’s largest restaurant franchises. Taco Bell, for example, showed a 30% spike in average order value after implementing a mobile app designed for personalization.

“Being totally connected with your guests is really the end game in today’s market,” says John. “Continually building a relationship and reminding them why they like you is what will keep customers coming back again and again.”

Embrace kitchen automation technology

‘Quick’ has taken a whole new meaning since the normalization of digital tools in hospitality businesses. The average wait time for QSR service in 2022 is about 6 minutes, making it 30 seconds or so slower than the average time in 2019. This extra 30 seconds means tens of thousands of dollars of lost revenue for every store each year – as well as decreased customer satisfaction. Research indicates that congestion in areas like the drive-thru and other contactless options are leading this change.?

Using mobile apps and other digital tools means that customers can place their orders instantly – but keeping up with food preparation hasn’t been so easy for QSRs.

Automation technology has dominated behind-the-scenes restaurant processes for a while now, especially for areas like inventory control, product labeling, and scheduling management. Transaction management platforms (TMPs) can automatically sync POS data within the entire restaurant ecosystem to encourage optimal workflow productivity.

QSRs are now going beyond the standard automation strategies, however, and investigating its uses in other areas – primarily as a way to reduce labor dependence. With QSR turnover rates as high as 130-150% annually, many businesses are testing the boundaries of kitchen automation. From food preparation to frying and grilling, robotic solutions may play a significant role for the future of QSR kitchens.

“For technology like Flippy the Burger Robot, the ROI on this kind of automation just isn’t quite there yet,” says John, “but these kinds of answers could certainly become more viable in the coming years – when they can work faster, or more consistently than humans.”

Look for major change opportunities

QSRs have been a leading industry franchise model since the 1950s. While the system has proven itself both lucrative and mutually beneficial to consumers and brands, there is some evidence to suggest that moving in this digital age will require major reconstruction for the framework of a top-down franchise model.

While franchisees are typically slower to invest in their technology portfolio, franchise operators in this framework continue to prioritize digital development – causing tension to form between corporate offices and on-the-ground operators. The result is a slower adoption of tech solutions, making it difficult to maintain a competitive edge in the market.

QSRs may need to rethink their existing franchise model to emphasize collaboration and multi-level strategic thinking.?

Invest in the future

Meeting customer demands in a rapidly expanding industry has never been more important for QSRs. To stay ahead, research shows that investing digital and making data-driven, collaborative decisions is the route forward for today’s quick-service businesses.?

“Technology in the hospitality space isn’t really about adding onto a legacy system, but rather about reimagining what restaurant service can be,” says John. “Better customer experiences, better staff experiences, and higher profits – that’s what we’re looking for with these digital solutions.”