Top Drive-Thru Tech for Keeping Guests – and Employees – Happy

In the beginning of 2020, no one could have predicted where the restaurant and quick service restaurant (QSR) industry would be today. When the pandemic hit and indoor dining was prohibited, the demand for online ordering, curbside pickup and drive-thru usage skyrocketed. Drive-thru usage increased more than 150 percent for some QSRs since Covid-19 began, according to Xenial data. But as restrictions on indoor dining have lifted, long lines at drive-thrus continue because QSRs are grappling with a new problem: labor shortages. According to the National Restaurant Association, employment at eating and drinking establishments is 12 percent short of pre-pandemic levels, leaving many employees feeling stressed and burned out in the face of often unrelenting customer demand. 

This means that restaurant owners and managers are scrambling to find and hire new staff, but savvy operators are turning to technology to not only augment existing staff, but alleviate employee stress as well…