Post-game analysis of Chick-fil-A’s chicken-serving has helped the Atlanta-based company speed up its drive-thrus and log more revenue per restaurant than any other fast food joint in the US, the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend.
Beating out McD’s per-restaurant stats, Chick-fil-A did ~$21.6 billion in sales across ~3,000 US restaurants in 2023, according to QSR Magazine. Per WSJ, car-centric franchises are carrying the herd:
- One Rockford, Illinois location boosted its drive-thru sales by 50% in 2022 after enlisting the help of Chick-fil-A’s Film Studies unit—a team of drone pilots that provides franchisees with aerial footage used to fix slowdowns in drive-thru lanes.
- A new Atlanta franchise that opened last year doesn’t even have a dining area—just a second-floor kitchen and four drive-thru lanes that can serve ~700 cars per hour.
- Food orders at the drive-up window accounted for about 60% of Chick-fil-A’s revenue last year.
Everybody wants to eat in their car: About 43% of fast food orders in the US overall happen at the drive-thru window, and 27% of those meals are downed before exiting the vehicle, according to Circana. That’s probably why McDonald’s is testing out a new Sonic-esque restaurant, CosMc’s, while Chipotle and Shake Shack are adding more drive-up lanes, per WSJ.—ML
This report was originally published by Morning Brew.