Mary Meisenzahl/Insider
According to Chick-fil A CEO, a third of customers leave the drive-thru due to long lines.
He said that putting another restaurant just a few miles away does not reduce the demand.
Chick-fil A uses technology to keep its drive-thrus running efficiently.
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Chick-fil A is a major player in fast-food drive-thru, but some of its success may actually be driving customers away.
According to Dan Cathy, an exiting CEO, "We believe that about 30% of people are driving off, drivingaway because the lines are so lengthy," he told the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
According to data, Chick-fil A has longer drive-thru lines that its competitors. In the 2021 QSR drive thru study, Chick-fil-A had the longest wait at 541 seconds. This is a difference of about nine minutes. Long waits are not the only thing that matters. Chick-fil A also won for customer service and accuracy.
Chick-fil A declined to comment through a spokesperson.
The wait times at drive-thru have become longer. The average speed in 2019 was 322.98 seconds. This was just over five minutes. In 2020, the wait time was 488.8 seconds. That's about eight minutes. Although wait times have almost doubled in 2019, customers don't seem to notice. This chain was the only one to receive a 100% accuracy rating in the survey. It also ranked first for customer service.
It's not surprising that Chick-fil A is so popular, the long lines aren't surprising. The survey found that Chick-fil A locations had on average four cars in line at any one time. This is significantly higher than the average of 2.2 cars at McDonald's. These long wait times are an indication of Chickfil-A's huge success. The average Chickfil-A store has $4.5 million in annual sales. This compares to $2.9 million for a McDonald's.
Chick-fil A does have strategies to speed up drive-thrus. For example, they install double drive-thru lanes. Workers can also take orders from customers on tablets in their cars. This helps reduce bottlenecks. These measures are being implemented by other chains. However, it is not uncommon for the drive-thru lines to extend onto the street, block the entrances of other businesses and sometimes require assistance from police.
Continue the story
To reduce long lines, you can open another Chickfil-A near a busy restaurant. We found that this doesn't solve our problem. It's a huge well that makes us realize the US has a lot of growth potential," Dan Cathy stated.
Have a story about a restaurant or retail chain that you would like to share? Email this reporter at mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com.
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