Drive-thru Restaurants Are No Different

There is an excellent article in Quirk's Marketing Research Review issue dated March, 2009 edition that focuses on the impact of satisfaction on sales and loyalty for drive-thru restaurants. Here are some of the major impacts noted in the article:
1. The difference in the ticket amount for highly satisfied customers is 4.3% higher than those customers who indicate they are satisfied.
2. Offering refills increases the average spend by 2.5%
3. Suggesting menu items increases the average spend by 2.7%.
4. On average there is a 2.9% increase in the amount spent between highly satisfied customers and satisfied customers.
5. Guests are three times as likely to recommend to others if they were highly satisfied versus those who were satisfied. The actual results indicate that the likelihood to recommend is 84% of highly satisfied customers versus 28% of those customers who were satisfied.
6. Guests are twice as likely to return if they were highly satisfied versus those guests who were satisfied. The actual results indicate that 90% of those who were highly satisfied would return versus 44% of those who were satisfied.

The bottom line is that drive-thru businesses have the same opportunity for building customer loyalty as other businesses. With highly satisfied customers at the drive-thru comes higher average spend.