How Video Analytics Benefit Drive-Thru Restaurants

Posted by Tapan Dixit on May 12th, 2021

In the wake of the raging pandemic, the dining-in option became extremely limited due to lock-downs and strict social distancing norms in force. It led the businesses to rethink their operations, and drive-through restaurants came into the picture that allows the consumers to place orders and make purchases from the comfort of their cars. An annual study reported that since the pandemic has begun, the use of drive-thru lanes has skyrocketed, with an increase in drive-thru visits by 26 percent during April, May, and June 2020 quarter and represented (NPD Group). The fast-food chains like McDonald’s and KFC are already toying with the idea of seatless restaurants in the U.S. With independent restaurants also adopting the trend of fast-food restaurants, the trend is likely to stay here. The present article will explore that how drive-thru restaurants can benefit from AI-powered video analytics.

Augmented Drive-Through Experience through Video Analytics

A highly competitive segment; the success or failure of drive-through restaurants is often determined by the number of customers it can serve at any given point of time, especially at peak times. Mornings are usually trying, with customers worried about reaching their workplaces on time, and long queues and high wait time can cause the drive-through to lose customers, or at the very least, low customer satisfaction.

Enhanced video analytics can lead to the augmented customer experience by allowing the restaurants to identify regular customers, assess their preferences, and start the preparation before the customer arrives at the window to place his order. In this way, the preparation for the order can begin much in advance, and in the meanwhile, the customer is placing the order, the system can match the predicted order with the actual order. The analysis proves to be accurate for about 90 percent of orders, thus allowing the drive-through restaurants to increase footfall, free up space in the drive-through lanes, and improved customer satisfaction. The cost of wastage is significantly lesser than the cost of a slower drive-through experience.

Video analytics can augment throughput by measuring the speed of service and understand bottlenecks in the order pickup process. By providing insights into wait time, footfall, and customer journey, enhanced video analytics can leverage intelligent decision-making to maximize ROI and profitability. Video analytics data provides insights to improve traffic velocity and can also be utilized to identify customers who left the drive-through due to the slower pace of traffic movement to understand bottlenecks in the drive-through experience.

AI – The Next Revolution in Drive-Through Restaurants

As the quick-service restaurant industry is worth a lot of fast-food restaurants are taking a step towards deploying artificial intelligence to boost sales, provide a delightful customer experience, and improve operational efficiency. A long queue and a slower drive-through is the worst nightmare of any drive-through restaurant, as even seconds matter, and are enough to drive the customer away. This section will explore the ways in which artificial intelligence can improve the functioning of the drive-through restaurants.

Speed Ordering

The voice-based assistant can be the solution to slower drive-throughs. While the voice-assistant is taking an order from the customer, an employee can start preparing the food simultaneously, instead of first taking an order and then preparing it. Thus, by the time the customer leaves the drive-through by placing an order through the voice-based assistant and arrives at the collection window, the food is already ready to be delivered. Further, as the voice assistant is driven by artificial intelligence, it can learn and improve based on actual orders and spoken language.

Personalized Experience with Accuracy

AI-powered video analytics can allow the customers to avoid the line and get a personalized experience at kiosks as are experienced by the customers in a regular restaurant. A camera can recognize regular customers, recall their previous orders, and can even make suggestions based on a previous order history thus, making the experience not only faster and accurate but also deeply personalized.

Faster Decision Making

AI-powered video analytics can identify an incoming customer through — a camera scanning license plates, mobile app geolocation, or even facial recognition — and can display a personalized menu as per the customer’s previous order history. It can reduce the time the customer spends on making decisions by displaying items they’re likely to choose and can keep the drive-throughs moving.

Better Forecasting and Business Intelligence

AI-powered video analytics can predict a higher footfall at certain hours of a day and forecast which drink would be in high demand based on weather, local events, festivals, etc. Predicting such demand could allow these drive-through restaurants to plan and manage their logistics and supply-chain much in advance along with adequate staffing.

Modern AI can also help businesses remain competitive by determining prices according to the cost of ingredients and the prices charged by competitors, allowing businesses to strategize and announce special discount offers.

Personalized offers with the help of AI-powered video analytics will encourage the customers to return, thus increasing footfall. Specials of the day can be planned by an algorithm that can assess a perishable overstocked ingredient, thus reducing wastage and loss.

Enhanced Customer Experience

As artificial intelligence never gets grumpy, it can provide a round-the-clock pleasure experience to the customers. Voice assistants backed by sentiment analysis can identify the mood of customers through their tones, and respond accordingly, thus providing the best possible experience to the customers.

Conclusion

From providing personalized accurate orders to enhanced operational efficiency to improved customer service, artificial intelligence is the future of drive-throughs as it combines the Customers’ desire for convenience, speed, and ease. In response to drive-through challenges, many big chains have already started experimenting with artificial intelligence and would reap the benefits in the future.