Solis is quoted at the end of an article on QSRweb entitled “Study finds QSRs struggling to serve growing order-for-pickup audience.

The piece begins with its premise: “As much as the restaurant world debates home delivery, it remains a fact that order-ahead, pickup-in-store sales are racing forward and now, a recently completed industry study by mobile commerce platform, Rakuten Ready, shows many brands are struggling to keep up.”

The author reveals details of the study of 25 U.S. QSR, retail and grocery brands, which unleashed secret shoppers on some 750 order-for-pickup trips to get a snapshot of the state of this channel of business’s overall customer experience and wait times. The results made it clear that the industry overall is struggling to keep up, showing what Rakuten Ready said in a news release are “deep gaps in customer experience across categories for both in-store and curbside pickup.” Primary problems identified includes orders not being ready, no dedicated pickup areas or exclusive pickup line.”

The study found that some of the prominent chains that lean more toward fast casual dining, including Chipotle, Panera, and Starbucks, recorded the fastest in-store pickup times. However, Chick-fil-A also came out well from the strictly quick-service category.

Based on study order data, customers who waited less than 2 minutes were four times more likely to return regularly, with a select few brands fulfilling this need or exceeding it. Among those, Chipotle reigned supreme with more than 88% of orders ready in under 2 minutes. Other brands that fulfilled this standard were also fast casuals, including Panera and Starbucks.

In the release, Solis – identified as a “digital analyst and customer experience expert” – says, “Brands must now rethink business and operational models to not only keep up with evolving customer demands but also grow new markets. Those that do win. Those that don’t will lose.”

Read the entire article here.

You can read the full study here.