• Drive-thru dominates, but in-restaurant dining grows in a normalized environment
• Sixty one percent of diners would leave a drive-thru line with five or more cars in front of them

CHARLOTTE -- Xenial, a Global Payments (NYSE: GPN) company, today announced results of a wide-ranging survey of consumer quick service restaurant (QSR) ordering preferences. Conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of Xenial among nearly 2,000 US adults who visit QSRs (i.e., diners), the survey paints a detailed picture of how diners are choosing to engage with restaurants in a post-pandemic environment where all ordering options are on the table.

 

While the drive-thru remains king – more than half (52%) of diners list it as the ordering option they most often choose – in-restaurant dining popped to 22%, up from 17% when Xenial first asked the question in 2021. Curbside pickup was effectively flat at 7% over the same period. Interestingly, those with children under the age of 18 are nearly three times as likely as those who do not have children in that age group to say they use curbside pickup most often when visiting a QSR (11% vs. 4%). 

 

“In-restaurant dining’s ongoing strength highlights the importance of an end-to-end technology stack that unites all the different ordering channels – including drive-thru and in-restaurant – so they work seamlessly together,” said Chris Siefken, head of technology at Xenial.

 

Diners’ top ordering and payment preference varies

When asked to rank the following ways to order and pay from most to least preferred, diners showed a range of preferences across traditional and tech-forward alternatives, demonstrating the importance of providing diverse options to match the transaction habits of consumers. Notably, ordering and paying ahead with a mobile device tied with “ordering inside with a real person” as the top choice for roughly 1 in 5 diners. The top preferred methods to order and pay include: 

• 23% prefer to order in the drive-thru at a traditional speaker and pay the cashier at the window
• 21% prefer ordering and paying ahead with their mobile device
• 21% prefer ordering inside with a real person
• 12% prefer to order and pay in the drive-thru with a line buster (e.g., a real person taking orders on a tablet/mobile device)
• 7% prefer an automated experience, ordering and paying in the drive-thru at a self-service kiosk

“We’re seeing a splintering of QSR consumer preferences among all the different channels that enable them to order and pay for food,” Siefken said. “It has never been more important for QSR restaurants to offer a cohesive, holistic experience to serve the wide-ranging preferences of today’s consumers.” 

 

Consumer patience evaporates at five cars

As some QSRs continue to struggle with labor shortages and accompanying service delays, Xenial asked diners how many cars lined up in the drive-thru would cause them to skip or leave the line to find another restaurant. The fifth car is the deal breaker, with 61% saying they would skip or leave the line if there were five or more cars. If there are less than five cars, only 29% would skip or leave the line.

 

Long lines do not have to scare customers away, however: 91% of diners who say they would skip or leave the line if there were too many cars also say they would be more likely to stay if they previously experienced speedy drive-thru service at the same restaurant.

 

Most diners arrive knowing what they want, but many change their minds

Xenial’s survey also gauged how often menus and advertisements impact what diners order. Although 83 percent arrive knowing what they want, 27 percent often change their order after looking at the menu or in-restaurant advertisements. Ten percent of diners don’t know what they want and use the menu or advertisements to decide.

 

“Technology can help alleviate many of the pain points identified by this survey,” Siefken concluded. “From providing a unified platform that unites the front and back of the restaurant to helping speed people through the drive-thru and investing in digital menu boards with the flexibility to present more offers to diners, the right technologies are important differentiators as restaurants compete for customers and workers.”  

For more information about Xenial products and services, visit Xenial.com.  

About Xenial

Xenial™, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Global Payments, a Fortune 500  company, is a leading complete technology solutions platform for the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR), Fast Casual, Managed Food Service and Stadium/Venue industries. With more than 35 years of experience, Xenial has a direct presence in 62 countries, serving 51,000 locations. 

Xenial solutions span omnichannel ordering including counter service, self-order kiosk, web, mobile app, third-party integrations, and automated voice assistant; digital menu displays; drive-thru management; kitchen management; back of house; and customer engagement and marketing; as well as payments. Created for ease of use and cost savings by relying on modern, cloud-first technology and user experience best practices, Xenial solutions equip hospitality providers with the next-gen software, technology, and services they need to power the future of commerce, today. To learn more about Xenial, visit xenial.com.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is a leading payments technology company delivering innovative software and services to our customers globally. Our technologies, services and team member expertise allow us to provide a broad range of solutions that enable our customers to operate their businesses more efficiently across a variety of channels around the world.

Headquartered in Georgia with approximately 27,000 team members worldwide, Global Payments is a Fortune 500® company and a member of the S&P 500 with worldwide reach spanning North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. For more information, visit company.globalpayments.com and follow Global Payments on X , LinkedIn and Facebook.

Survey Method
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Xenial from February 27-29, 2024 among 1,968 adults ages 18 and older who visit quick service restaurants (i.e., diners). This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval.  For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. 

Media Contact:
Matt Cochran 404.542.1339
matt.cochran@globalpay.com