--- title: "The Gap Where Money and Customers Are Won or Lost" url: https://burnaze.com/article/893af564-0e62-4451-9699-55853a38dafb source: "QSR Magazine" original_url: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/sponsored_content/increase-revenue-and-customer-satisfaction-by-reducing-pickup-chaos/ author: "Ya'el McLoud" category: "Suppliers" industry: "Franchise Industry" segment: "Suppliers" topics: ["Operations"] published: 2026-06-17T15:28:43.000Z modified: 2026-10-31T14:42:51.235Z image: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Apex-QSR-Web-Exclusive-2026-02_1200x800.jpg --- # The Gap Where Money and Customers Are Won or Lost **TL;DR:** Apex Order Pickup Solutions helps restaurants with off-premise orders, providing a system to make pickup more predictable, secure, and scalable. The company's solutions aim to address the core issue of pickup and delivery, controlling dwell time and providing a holistic strategy for operators. *By Ya'el McLoud, originally published in QSR Magazine on 2026-06-17. [Read the original](https://www.qsrmagazine.com/sponsored_content/increase-revenue-and-customer-satisfaction-by-reducing-pickup-chaos/).* ## Story As off-premise ordering and dining continue to reshape quick-service restaurants, pickup has become a larger part of the guest journey. According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2025 Off-Premises Restaurant Trends report, nearly 75 percent of restaurant traffic now happens off-premises. While digital ordering has made placing an order easier than ever, getting that order into the right hands quickly, accurately, and without disruption remains a challenge for many brands. That’s the gap Apex Order Pickup Solutions is focused on closing—not simply with “lockers,” but with a system designed to make pickup more predictable, secure, and scalable. “Operators spend a lot of time attracting the customer, building a menu that will delight them, and preparing food in a way that meets expectations,” says Kent Savage, founder and executive chairman of Apex. “If the pickup experience isn’t smooth, or if a delivery driver has a poor handoff experience, all of that reflects negatively on the brand.” Pickup systems—or the lack thereof—can also create operational constraints. For example, long lines, mistakes, or stolen orders can all impact the customer experience. “Customers receiving wrong orders affects how often they come back and how much they spend,” Savage says. “It really comes down to revenue leakage and brand damage.” Operators must consider pickup a holistic problem, which is why it needs a holistic strategy rather than a solution focused on only one part of the process. “What this fulfillment problem is, it’s a digital problem, it’s an operational problem, and it’s a physical problem,” Savage says. “All three of those have to be considered. How does the data come in? How does the operation fulfill the order to the point of getting it ready for the customer to pick up, and then how is the physical handoff taking place?” Many aspects of pickup and delivery are outside an operator’s control, but the Apex system aims to address the core of the issue. “The real answer is control the dwell time,” Savage says. “What our system does is deliver the answer to the physical problem, the digital problem, and the operational problem, but the answer there is that the dwell time is very, very short.” Apex solutions work in a range of environments, whether a location needs external flow-through, interior flow-through, or floor front-load systems. Because no two locations are the same, Apex tailors each solution to an operator’s needs. For operators with a small footprint, Apex has designed a product line called the OrderHQ® Array. “Think of it like a series of Lego blocks,” Savage says. “It has a very small footprint and can be configured as small as needed, or scaled large enough to handle hundreds of orders per hour. It can sit on a counter, beside a counter, freestanding, or in an array. We work closely with brands on aesthetics—our solutions engineering team helps ensure the system is properly sized and integrated into the existing workflow.” Apex also offers the OrderHQ® Exterior, which is built through the wall. “It’s loaded from inside the restaurant and accessed from outside, so customers and drivers never need to come in,” Savage says. “There’s also a safety element to it. Late-night dayparts can be a concern, causing many brands to either lock their doors or adopt a solution like ours. Some quick-service restaurants are now converting side entrances into dedicated pickup entrances. This keeps the crew safer inside while allowing the brand to continue serving late-night demand.” Apex solutions are provided as a service on a subscription basis. “Once you build the business case, it becomes clear that it costs more not to do this than to do it,” Savage says. Apex has also seen measurable impacts. “Customer satisfaction, check size, and visit frequency all go up significantly,” Savage says. “Some of the operators we talk to see a direct correlation between customer satisfaction and revenue lift.” As pickup continues to grow across the quick-service industry, it’s becoming more important than ever for operators to invest in reliable systems. “This change is inevitable,” Savage says. “Five years from now the operators that don’t have a solution like ours won’t be competitive. Quality pickup solutions are going to become an expectation, and they will be everywhere. We want people to understand that this isn’t optional anymore; it’s imperative.” ## Entities - QSR Magazine (publication) - Operations (sector) - digital ordering (topic) - quick service restaurants (topic) - National Restaurant Association (regulator) - Ya'el McLoud (person) - off-premise ordering (topic) - Apex Order Pickup Solutions (company) - Kent Savage (person) - pickup solutions (topic) - operational constraints (topic) --- Originally reported by Ya'el McLoud, QSR Magazine (https://www.qsrmagazine.com/sponsored_content/increase-revenue-and-customer-satisfaction-by-reducing-pickup-chaos/). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/893af564-0e62-4451-9699-55853a38dafb).