Average Drive-Thru Visit Is the Fastest Since 2018, Intouch Insight’s 26th Annual Drive-Thru Study Finds

Pickup-window time fell 7.5 seconds to 1:40, accounting for most of the improvement in service time.

Rhea-AI Summary

Intouch Insight (INXSF) released its 26th Annual Drive-Thru Study with QSR Magazine, finding the fastest average visit since 2018. Average total time was 5 minutes and 24 seconds in 2026, 11.1 seconds faster than in 2025. Service time, from ordering to departure, fell 10.3 seconds to 4:04.

Friendly service coincided with 98.6% satisfaction, compared with 26.8% when service was not friendly. Order accuracy was 91.3% on friendly visits versus 73.2% on unfriendly visits. In a separate sample at locations running voice AI, accuracy rose to 90.8% from 82.5% in 2025, while the share of shoppers repeating part of an order fell to 29.1% from 34.2%. Voice AI took some or all of the order on only 36 of 2,145 visits in the main study. The main study covered 13 quick-service brands across the United States during June and July 2026.

AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.

See more from StockTitan in Google Search and AI answers. Adds StockTitan as a preferred source · opens Google

Add on Google Not now

Study across 13 quick-service brands finds a wide satisfaction gap tied to staff friendliness and improving results for voice AI ordering, though few guests encounter it

Ottawa, Ontario, Oct. 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intouch Insight Ltd. (TSXV: INX) (OTCQX: INXSF) (“Intouch” or the “Company”), a provider of customer experience management solutions, today announced the release of its 26th Annual Drive-Thru Study, conducted in partnership with QSR Magazine. The study found that the average drive-thru visit took 5 minutes and 24 seconds in 2026, 11.1 seconds faster than in 2025 and the fastest average total time the study has recorded since 2018.

Nearly all the improvement came from service time, the stretch from placing an order to leaving with it, which fell 10.3 seconds to 4:04. Faster handoffs at the pickup window accounted for most of that gain, with window time down 7.5 seconds to 1:40. The average visit is now 58 seconds shorter than the study’s 2021 peak of 6:22.

Speed remains a priority for guests. Asked to name the most important factor in a drive-thru visit, 38.4% of shoppers chose speed of service, followed by order accuracy at 28.4%.

“The average drive-thru visit is now almost a minute shorter than it was at the 2021 peak,” said Sarah Beckett, Vice President, Sales & Marketing at Intouch Insight. “What stands out this year is how closely the human side of the visit tracks with satisfaction. Speed gets guests through the lane, but a friendly, clear interaction is often what shapes how they feel about the visit afterward.”

Friendly Service Coincided with Higher Satisfaction

Staff friendliness showed one of the clearest links in the study to how shoppers felt about their visit, rating the service friendly on 79% of visits. On those visits, 98.6% of shoppers were satisfied and 86.5% said they would recommend the location. When service was rated not friendly, satisfaction dropped to 26.8% and willingness to recommend fell to 19.6%. Even neutral service came with a noticeable dip, with satisfaction at 83.0%.

The gap extended well beyond satisfaction. Orders were accurate on 91.3% of friendly visits, compared with 73.2% when service was not friendly, and friendly visits averaged 5:16 in total time, compared with 5:41. Shoppers rated their order good or excellent value on 58.6% of friendly visits, compared with 21.4% when service was not friendly.

“Friendliness is sometimes treated as a nice-to-have, but in this study it showed up alongside almost every result guests care about, from getting the right order to feeling they got good value,” Beckett said. “The range we saw between brands also shows it isn’t a fixed trait of the category. At the top end, friendly service was recorded on more than nine in ten visits, which shows what consistent execution can look like.”

Voice AI Is Performing Better, but Remains Rare at the Drive-Thru

Voice AI ordering performed better in 2026 than in 2025. At locations running the technology, orders were accurate on 90.8% of visits, up from 82.5% a year earlier, and the share of shoppers who had to repeat part of their order fell to 29.1% from 34.2%. Service at those locations was rated friendly on 77.5% of visits, up from 70.8%. That improvement moved AI-enabled locations ahead of the same brands in the main study on order accuracy, 90.8% compared with 86.7%, after trailing them in 2025.

Those gains have yet to translate into broad exposure for guests. Across the 2,145 visits in the main study, a voice AI took some or all of the order on 36, fewer than 2%. Even the most common form of automation, an automated greeting followed by an employee taking the order, occurred on just 77 visits.

About the Study

Intouch Insight mystery shoppers completed 165 visits at each of 13 quick-service brands, for 2,145 visits in total, across the United States between June and July 2026. Visits took place at various times of day and days of the week. Brands were grouped into three segments: Classic (Arby’s, Burger King, McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Wendy’s), Chicken (Chick-fil-A, KFC, Popeyes and Raising Cane’s) and Beverage (Dunkin’, Dutch Bros, Starbucks and Tim Hortons). A separate sample of 120 visits at Burger King, Taco Bell and Wendy’s locations reported to be running voice AI ordering evaluated the technology using the same questionnaire.

Download the 26th Annual Drive-Thru Study: https://www.intouchinsight.com/resources/studies/drive-thru/.

About Intouch Insight

Intouch Insight is a customer experience (CX) solutions company, specializing in helping multi-location brands achieve operational excellence and exceed customer expectations. The Company provides mystery shopping, operational audits, and customer feedback software to over 300 of the world’s most beloved brands.

For more information, visit intouchinsight.com.

Attachment

• Intouch Insight's 2026 Drive-Thru Study Report

Andrew Soobrian
Intouch Insight
800-263-2980 ext. 9047
andrew.soobrian@intouchinsight.com

FAQ

AI-generated questions and answers. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.

How fast was the average drive-thru visit in Intouch Insight’s 2026 study?

The average drive-thru visit lasted 5 minutes and 24 seconds in 2026, 11.1 seconds faster than in 2025 and the fastest average since 2018. It was 58 seconds shorter than the study’s 2021 peak of 6:22.

How did voice AI ordering perform in Intouch Insight’s 2026 drive-thru study?

Order accuracy at locations running voice AI reached 90.8%, up from 82.5% in 2025. The share of shoppers who repeated part of their order fell to 29.1% from 34.2%. Voice AI handled some or all of the order on fewer than 2% of visits in the main study.

How did Intouch Insight test drive-thru service and voice AI in its 2026 study?

Mystery shoppers completed 165 visits at each of 13 brands, totaling 2,145 U.S. visits between June and July 2026. Visits covered different times and days. A separate sample comprised 120 visits at Burger King, Taco Bell and Wendy’s locations reported to be running voice AI, using the same questionnaire.