The drive-thru changed America. The first Jack in the Box drive-thru was called a "food machine" when it opened in 1951. The building contained only a kitchen with enough room inside for one employee to transact orders and another to prepare the food.
Since the food machine made life more convenient for Americans, the concept has been adopted by dozens of industries, including pharmacies, photo labs and even Las Vegas wedding chapels.
In the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry, drive-thru sales account for more than 60 percent of the overall revenue and more than 80 percent of the lunch revenue at a typical McDonald's. But the drive-thru is at capacity. Imagine expanding the shrinking drive-thru, taking on additional takeout or to-go consumers. Such a feat is possible, according to Jim Livingston, senior vice president for Long Range Systems (LRS).
He said curbside to-go is a viable option that has proven effective in the fast casual industry. Fast casual restaurants using the concept incurred a 10-percent incremental sales increase.
For the QSR industry, the curbside option opens the door to untapped sales. Instead of depending on the drive-thru for to-go profits, QSR managers can serve three to four curbside to-go lanes in addition to a drive-thru.
Rather than the lunch crowd being funneled through one lane, there are designated parking slots for customers with call-ahead and online orders. And since QSRs are stepping up the quality of food served, the curbside option gives more time to prepare than the typical three-minute drive-thru. It also allows for new menu choices and could attract patrons who normally wouldn't choose the drive-thru option. In addition, the curbside business model has worked for Sonic since 1959.
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LRS offers a system that makes the concept even easier, said Livingston, with a fully integrated PC and camera. The proprietary software monitors up to four lanes on a single camera. It pages the server or runner when a guest arrives in the parking spot. Inside the restaurant, the touchscreen monitor prompts the server to greet the guest and records the time.
When the car pulls out of the spot, the total service time is recorded. The main screen of the curbside PC shows a running average of greet times, total service times and number of cars served. The system can even send this data to a manager's pager periodically.
The set-up not only allows QSRs to take on additional customers, it gives managers true data to measure the restaurant and workers' toil.
"We've taken all the technology in the marketplace and found a universal solution," Livingston said.
The equipment includes an on-screen timer for each lane, a 15" touchscreen color LCD and an all-purpose, weather-resistant bullet camera. Through LRS' internet sharing capabilities, a chain can share data and compare service times at different locations in regions or around the country.
Indeed, the curbside to-go technology gives operators a new tool for the industry's most-valued arena. Perhaps curbside to-go will have the same impact on the QSR as the drive-thru did in the 1950s.
