Powering Lightning-Fast DriveThru Experience with Video Intelligence

In the drive-thru industry where quick and convenient draws customers, speed of service (SOS) determines customer satisfaction and business profitability.

Despite this, wait times can surge upwards of 5 minutes if an establishment isn’t optimized properly. Staffing shortages, increased workloads, and a lack of updated technology and insights significantly slow down operations. Long wait times equal long queues, driving as many as 76% of customers away if they’re too far back. But what is ‘too far back’? For 90% of customers, a queue of 4-7 cars is too long. Under these stiff demands, slow drive-thrus face the inevitability of tanking revenues. In such a landscape, quick speed of service becomes imperative.

What, then, can businesses banking on a drive-thru model do to prime themselves for success amid increasing service times and customers’ waning patience? Turns out, AI-powered video intelligence is just the solution you might be looking for!

Drive-thru or Drive-by: Customers’ Need for Speed

In a fast-paced, post-pandemic world, drive-thrus have witnessed a massive resurgence. Now responsible for 70% of QSR revenues, drive-thrus are spearheading the quick-service experience.

And oh, how quick that service can be when done right! For instance, Taco Bell, the quickest drive-thru chain since 2020, averages 4 and a half minutes per order. However, Taco Bell’s rapidity is not the norm. In the current drive-thru landscape, speed of service remains customers’ leading complaint. 27% of customers feel waiting times have gotten longer. And despite efforts to optimize speed of service, 1 out of 5 customers report receiving their orders later than expected.

For a business model built on swiftness, these findings are far from ideal. After all, your customers’ journey through a drive-thru, from the moment they arrive to the point they receive their order, is the foremost predictor of business success. A high speed of service builds reputation, trust, and satisfaction, ensuring your customers keep coming back. Furthermore, the quicker you serve, the better your bottom line. Research findings indicate that with an average meal cost of $10.35, a mere 5-second reduction in service time could potentially result in an annual gain of $8,000 per store unit.

Evidently, the current gap in customers’ expectations and the service they receive is a challenge yet to be addressed effectively.

A Stitch in Time: Reimagining Speed of Service Using Video Intelligence

In a competitive landscape like the drive-thru industry, a stitch in time will save you nine, quite literally. Nine seconds, nine lane dropouts, nine returning customers, you name it. Customers are also becoming smarter, with 78% acknowledging that automation and AI will let businesses serve them quicker.

How, then, can establishments set themselves apart in a tried and tested ethos of POS systems, line-busting, and conspicuous signage? Worry not! Wobot’s comprehensive video analytics solution unlocks a new standard of speed of service for your business.

What Video Intelligence Powered Speed of Service Looks Like

Our revolutionary product transforms your existing camera systems into intelligent data-gathering entities, at no additional hardware costs. Leveraging the untapped potential of AI, our product gleans video footage to deliver rich insights. All information gathered is made available via our user-friendly dashboard, optimized to enable rapid decision-making.

Once deployed, Wobot AI ensures there are no blind spots in your drive-thrus or your business operations!

Quick speed of service is a delicate balance of sufficient staffing, clear communication, cross-functioning, and adaptability. Here are the ways in which Wobot AI equips drive-thru businesses for exceptional speed of service:

Analyzing traffic to enhance service levels

By monitoring queues, Wobot AI helps businesses identify bottlenecks, allowing your staff to stay one step ahead of the drive-thru’s flow of traffic. Turn rush hours into a breeze with dual and express lanes, curbside orders, and an optimal staff-to-customer ratio to manage high volumes of orders.

Optimizing wait times

Wobot’s video intelligence system analyzes real-time footage to capture wait times at the order window and pickup window. To cut wait times during peak hours and days and offer a more personalized experience, businesses can rely on outside order takers, where staff members approach customers waiting in line to take orders directly.

Additionally, with Wobot’s real-time, in-store dashboard, ThruPut Live, businesses can elevate their operations, boost key metrics, and increase overall efficiency like never before. The product encompasses every drive-thru aspect, from customer arrivals to departures, surpassing traditional sensor-based solutions. Food operators can drive success with real-time metrics to identify drive-thru bottlenecks and areas of improvement in operations.

Monitoring overall drive-thru performance

Using Wobot AI, you can monitor key metrics like pickup window duration, order processing time, travel time between stations, cars served per hour, and other critical insights. ThruPut Journey allows you to have comprehensive coverage on car journeys from arrival to drive-off maximizing your drive-thru’s throughput potential. By leveraging historical data on throughput and vehicle journeys, brands gain valuable insights into trends, patterns, and optimization opportunities. This data-driven approach empowers them to make informed decisions aimed at enhancing drive-thru operations.

Value-added benefits beyond Speed of Service

Maintaining high standards of cleanliness and safety is paramount for QSR businesses. Video intelligence helps ensure compliance around hairnet and kitchen gloves usage and enforcement of safety and hygiene protocols, ensuring a clean and safe environment for both customers and staff. It also empowers businesses to detect and address potential safety hazards such as obstructions in BOH area or sub optimal usage of commercial refrigerators/freezers.

Win the Race Against the Clock

Video Intelligence is the next big leap for businesses seeking to set themselves apart through unrivaled speed of service. With its transformative potential still being the wisdom of the few, the future is now for those who leverage the combined power of camera systems and AI to drive customer satisfaction and business success. In the realm of AI-powered video analytics, Wobot AI, with its commitment to uplifting drive-thru businesses, offers itself as a uniquely holistic and user-friendly solution that works like nothing short of magic!