---
title: "Why Drive-Thrus Are Still Costing Franchisors Millions"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/49d31733-6359-4c93-8e4f-95b96c928c69
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/why-drive-thrus-are-still-costing-franchisors-millions-2711495
category: "Franchise Industry"
industry: "Franchise Industry"
topics: ["Regulation & legal"]
published: 2019-11-04T20:15:52.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:29:12.289Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/a4fc6dc95c10eff5750a4bf2d2f208628526.jpg
---

# Why Drive-Thrus Are Still Costing Franchisors Millions

**TL;DR:** Drive-thru windows are costing restaurant brands millions of dollars, with fast-food drive-thrus losing about $178 million per 2,000 locations each year. McDonald's has improved its drive-thru time by 20 seconds after reducing menu complexity and giving staff more tools to cook faster.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2019-11-04. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/why-drive-thrus-are-still-costing-franchisors-millions-2711495).*

## Story

**Drive-thru windows are proving to be** **a complex issue** **amongst** **restaurant brands this year****. While many franchisors across the QSR and fast casual space have been investing in new techniques to make the process faster and easier for customers, it looks like** **drive-thru windows are still coming at a cost for these brands’ bottom lines****.**

**According to** **SeeLevel HX's 2019 QSR Drive-Thru study****, fast-food drive-thrus are losing about $178 million per 2,000 locations each year. That translates to an average loss per store of $89,000. According to the study, complex menu boards are impacting kitchen layouts and costing drive-thrus as a whole, leading to increased service times and inaccurate orders.**

**This year, some of the QSR segment’s biggest players have been making strides in drive-thru innovations specifically aimed at speeding up service, providing better accuracy and creating more personalized experiences. Most notably,** **McDonald's bought Dynamic Yield****,** **the digital menu board company****, for** **$300 million in March****, and acquired voice-based conversational technology company** **Apprente in September****. According to the study, improved menu boards like this can improve drive-thru performance and save QSRs $28,000 per store and $56.

3 million per 2,000 locations.

**McDonald's has improved its drive-thru time by 20 seconds** **during Q3 following initiatives that reduced menu complexity and gave staff more tools to cook faster. Other franchisors such as** **Dunkin’****,** **Chipotle** **and** **Jack in the Box** **have been testing new ways to speed up and simplify the drive-thru process as well.**

**There are a number of other issues—crowded menus,** **mobile ordering** **and** **third-party delivery****—that are slowing down back-of-the-house operations. In order to best streamline the drive-thru process, brands may need to think of** **redesigns****,** **menu simplification** **or** **virtual kitchens** **as possible avenues for further innovation.**

**Considering 50% to 70% of all business in fast food** **consists of drive-thru sales, franchisors are going to need to come up with a solution one way or another.**

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Franchise Industry (sector)
- menu pricing (topic)
- McDonald's (company)
- Dunkin' Brands (company)
- Chipotle (company)
- qsr (topic)
- Jack in the Box (company)
- restaurant technology (topic)
- drive thru (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/why-drive-thrus-are-still-costing-franchisors-millions-2711495). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/49d31733-6359-4c93-8e4f-95b96c928c69).