Chick-fil-A customers wait in the drive-thru the longest in the fast-food industry – but customers don’t seem to mind. It also ranks No. 1 in order accuracy and customer service, a new report found.
Chick-fil-A finished last among 10 restaurants in service time (from order taken to order received) at 312 seconds in the 023 QSR Drive-Thru Report. It trailed No. 1 Taco Bell, as well as competitors such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King.
On order accuracy, however, Chick-fil-A finished No. 1 with a score of 92 percent, topping Burger King (90 percent) and McDonald’s (88 percent). On customer service, the difference was even wider, with Chick-fil-A topping all restaurants with a score of 91 percent for friendliness, far ahead of second-place Hardee’s and Taco Bell, which tied at 79 percent.
Ninety-seven percent of Chick-fil-A customers said they were satisfied with their drive-thru service, which also was No. 1. Mystery shoppers in the report said Chick-fil-A had more cars in its drive-thru line than any other restaurant. The report labeled it the “Chick-fil-A paradox.”
“Chick-fil-A’s drive-thru is a long-running amalgam of perception, execution, and customer experience delivered at unrivaled volumes,” it said. “Chick-fil-A takes a guest’s order via tablet in-line and then conducts hospitality checks throughout the process. So from a perception standpoint, customers don’t feel unattended to or like they’re stagnating, despite how lengthy the line might get. The other, less nuanced fact is Chick-fil-A simply has a lot more cars stacked than the rest of the industry.”
Chick-fil-A scored high in customer service despite the long waits because of its unique friendly-focused system. “This is where the magic of Chick-fil-A’s drive-thru experience ignites,” the report said.
Its restaurants are closed on Sundays, and its corporate purpose is to “glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A,” the company website says.
That hasn’t insulated the company from accusations it has gone woke. Earlier this year it added a controversial diversity and equity position to its board of directors.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
