The fork within the street
The enterprise leaders contended with operational questions that turned deeply intertwined with branding selections. They contemplated issues like website choice, focusing on Shacks off main transit routes versus metropolis Shacks. It redesigned its kitchens to prepare dinner meals extra effectively, and it created digital menu boards whereas streamlining its cell app.
There have been dangers.
Controlling the shopper expertise in a drive-thru, the place there are fewer alternatives for retailer workers to rectify buyer considerations, posed a possible drawback. Think about a buyer swiftly driving off after receiving the incorrect order, solely to later face disappointment and frustration that the model can’t simply repair.
Then, there’s the query of timeliness. Whereas a lot of its opponents put together meals upfront and maintain it heat for patrons who roll by means of, Shake Shack makes each order recent. Typically that leads to longer wait instances than customers anticipate at different fast-food eating places. Customers acquainted with the model anticipate that—maybe prioritizing recent meals over a fast wait time. A drive-thru may, theoretically, encourage customers to anticipate speediness. With longer-than-average wait instances, autos in a drive-thru may again up and create a service bottleneck, angering these going through lengthy wait instances.
“It’s a tightrope. It’s a tricky line to stroll. However the actuality is that that is one thing that companies eternally have contended with,” Dipanjan Chatterjee, vp and principal analyst at Forrester Analysis, instructed Adweek. “You understand that should you open up completely different channels that permit folks to entry you, you’re rising the enterprise. You’re simply multiplying the methods folks can work together along with your model…however that comes with its personal set of challenges.”
A word-of-mouth technique
Understanding easy methods to tackle every channel’s distinctive operational points must be the model’s precedence, in accordance with Chatterjee.
Livingston drew some inspiration from opponents like Chick-fil-A or In-N-Out that pioneered working environment friendly drive-thrus. “We checked out issues like how they do line busting throughout the drive-thru to have a number of factors of contact, so the visitors by no means really feel like they’re ready too lengthy with out some type of contact,” Livingston mentioned.
