Don’t sacrifice good manners for speed of service?
Results of survey on fast food decisions: Fast food retailers should not neglect customer satisfaction in favour of speed of service. That is one of the findings in a survey on fast food eating habits by UK customer evaluation company Retail Eyes.
The UK public spends in excess of £9bn on fast food, takeaways and sandwiches and buys over 2 billion QSR meals.
The survey found that 2 in 3 customers expect the purchasing process from the point of joining the queue to completing and receiving their purchase to take less than three minutes. However, only 1 in 10 said that they usually feel like a valued customer when paying at the till.
Customer service and the interactions with frontline staff were found to be the key drivers in the customer’s decision making process, and for 86% of respondents the way staff interact with them affects their decision to visit a location. Staff knowledge was highlighted to be important to customers with 79.5% saying that they expect staff to be able to recommend serving suggestions.
There is also good news for retailers; 81.2% of respondents said that they like to be made aware of offers, suggesting that there are plenty of opportunities to achieve higher margins.
The appearance of staff also has a significant effect on customers. 91.6% of respondents said that staff appearance affects their overall impression of the service they receive.
Tim Ogle, CEO at Retail Eyes, commented, “The traditional pillars of the fast food ethos – Quality, Value and Convenience are no longer enough in today’s discerning consumer arena.
“Service – and this extends past speed alone – will continue to differentiate in the high street and nowhere more so than in the QSR landscape. Retailers must work closely with their frontline staff to ensure they understand the importance of their appearance, interactions and the fact customers love to be made aware of deals and offers.”