Staying competitive in the quick service restaurant digital space can be a real challenge if you don’t speak the same language as your target audience. Every interaction with your QSR brand influences customer choice and loyalty. Do you want your quick service restaurant in their top preferences? To get there, it’s simple. Focus more on keeping up with your customers rather than your competition.
Quick Service Customers in a Nutshell
We used our extensive industry experience to put together some helpful facts about the QSR customer profile.
- Everything at your fingertips. Comfort is crucial for the QSR customer. When almost everything can be bought online, digital accessibility weighs in on the decision for quick service restaurants too. An online presence is mandatory for reaching customers where they are. Just think about it: If you choose to be only brick and mortar, your connection with customers depends on your physical address. But if you go digital, you’re basically in their pockets — one tap away.
- The importance of personalization. Although standardization is a major aspect of the QSR business model, each customer is different and wants to be treated accordingly. Order customization is essential for keeping them satisfied. Why risk losing a whole order because of a single ingredient? Let your customers decide for themselves which ingredients they want to remove or add. Maybe they have dietary restrictions or just picky preferences. An ingredient filter can work wonders.
- When and where they want it. Customers are dynamic, and the last thing they want is a long waiting time for a casual food order. That’s why being fast and flexible with online delivery options can strongly influence their choice. Let them choose home delivery, curbside pickup or drive-through.
- Complete information. Speed and knowledge are typical values for today’s information age. So, lacking real-time data for an online food order isn’t really compatible with the fast-moving world we’re living in. Customers need transparency and order tracking details. And there’s no better way to show them they’re important to your QSR business than by providing this.
- Loyalty needs maintenance. Customers have a wide variety of quick-serve choices. Only one pleasant experience could keep them from coming back. It’s harsh but true. Customer loyalty is a hard thing to achieve and a harder one to keep. The extra mile you need to run lies in customer engagement practices. Offer them subscription programs, coupons, promotions, social commerce. Stay connected — it’s the only way to make their experience a repeated one.
It’s the aftertaste that matters
Whether you’re a franchise brand owner, a local franchise manager, or an independent quick serve restaurant, consider adapting your digital strategy to put customer experience first. A great product can be easily compromised by a poor experience. QSR is not only about casual eating, it’s also an entire end-to-end experience that can boost or hurt your brand image.
Our Quick Service Restaurant Accelerator can help you exceed your brand promise with industry-dedicated customer journeys on your online restaurant. Adapt to the fast-changing consumer habits with simplified online ordering, insightful product descriptions, or social channel integration. Improving the digital customer experience now takes just a matter of weeks with the right digital transformation partner.
Competition is uncertain and dynamic. There can always be a quick serve restaurant with lower prices, better location or tastier food, but customer experience is what makes your QSR business unique and can keep you ahead of competitors.
