For many, drive-thrus are an essential way to get a meal outside of their home due to the pandemic. Making drive-thrus more efficient is on the mind of many in the QSR industry, and Acrelec is no exception.
Andrew Nosal, Innovation Product Manager at Acrelec, brought Beyond Technology’s host, Tyler Kern, up to speed with Acrelec’s QTimer 2.0, poised to shorten drive-thru line times and increase revenues for QSRs.
“QTimer 2.0 is Acrelec’s next-generation drive-thru timer,” Nosal said. “We use proven sensor technology in the drive-thru to track vehicles as they go through the journey in the drive-thru. Then, we display that information in real-time for the crews in the restaurant for them to make informed decisions. That way, they can improve their speed of service and work toward other operational goals.”
Reducing service time isn’t just about increasing customer satisfaction by delivering on the quick-service promise; it increases revenue.
“There was a study done by one of our largest QSR partners,” Nosal said. “They found that, for every 10-second reduction in service time, it equals about a little over 3% increase in vehicle count, and that gets us over 4% increase in profits.”
But can a 30-second wait reduction truly make a difference for customers?
“It’s a perception of the brand. It’s a perception of the experience,” Nosal said. “That reduction in time, whether they realize it or not, ultimately improves the customer experience in the drive-thru. So, it’s a very big deal.”