As the restaurant industry continues to adapt to the ongoing pandemic, staffing shortages, and economic changes, quick-service restaurants have managed to keep sales steadily humming along. See what the data says about how the quick service segment is performing in 2021.
While the restaurant industry continues to adapt to the effects of the pandemic, ongoing staffing crisis, and economic uncertainty, quick-service restaurants have been well-positioned to outperform the rest of the industry in sales and traffic.
Part of the success of the segment (and limited service overall) can be attributed to the nature of the quick-serve business. Many QSR brands were already working on updating drive-thru lanes to add efficiency and worked toward implementing systems like online ordering, curbside pickup, or delivery. These tactics helped boost drive-thru and delivery sales for QSR brands during a time when pandemic shutdowns took their toll on the rest of the economy.
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Black Box Financial Intelligence data shows quick service sales are much higher than the rest of the industry. In addition, even though comp traffic is negative, quick-service restaurants have fared better there also. Massive increases in drive-thru and delivery sales are part of this reason, along with PPA/PTA growth.
QSR brands are not exempt from the staffing crisis and are still operating with fewer staff members per unit than in previous years. Nonetheless, the decreased staffing levels have not been as much of an issue for limited-service brands as it was for their full-service counterparts.
Guests did mention staffing in online reviews, but the QSR segment has a high net sentiment score for Intent on Return, according to Black Box Guest Intelligence™.
To see the data and get a glimpse of the robust dataset available from Black Box Intelligence’s core suite of products, download the State of QSR: How Quick Service is Outpacing the Restaurant Industry in Sales & Traffic by filling out the form on the sidebar.
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