Your store probably has hundreds of items for sale, and it would be physically impossible to list all of them on a drive-thru menu board. So, the first job is to decide what you are going to sell at the drive-thru window. Some considerations:
There is a lot of action outside a gas station convenience store. Traffic patterns were potentially a big part of the site planning and cannot be disrupted by the addition of a drive-thru. When studying the feasibility, there are some things to think about:
The best location for the pick-up window from the point of view of exterior space and traffic patterns may pose challenges due to the interior layout of the building. Ideally, the perfect spot from the outside would line up nicely with a side wall of the café or restaurant. If, however, the perfect spot happens to be in the restroom or where the walk-in cooler is installed, there will be significant remodeling expenses. The drive-thru will add additional revenue, but this expense should be a part of the ROI calculations.
While thinking about the new interior floor plan, your careful analysis of what products you will offer at the drive-thru will be essential. If you plan to offer the ten highest selling non-food SKU's, you should have space near the pick-up window for inventory of those items. It would be extremely inefficient for your team members to have to run across the store to get a bottle of aspirin while they are working on fulfilling the order for a cinnamon roll and large coffee. In addition, leaving it up to the team to pull items off the shelves might lead to miss-picks - giving the customer Advil when they asked for Tylenol, for example, or a liter of Coke when they asked for a 12 oz. Coke. As noted above, it is very important to think carefully about what items you will offer and to keep it as simple as possible.
You will need to think about how you will staff the drive-thru, and what training you will have to provide. When you add the drive-thru, you additionally add a different kind of customer interaction. People who go through a drive-thru have a different internal clock than those who come into the store. If they get stuck in a slow drive-thru, they can’t abandon the line like they could in the store and their frustration will discourage future visits. What is the standard in your area? If you will be competing with the coffee shop down the street, you should get a good estimate of what their times are. Adding non-prepared food items may impact the timing, especially if the staff must go hunting for items which are inventoried in different locations throughout the store.
Managing a drive-thru does take some training. Learning to use the timing mechanism and the drive-thru headset system is not terribly difficult, but each team member who is assigned to this area should have a handle on how it all works. The urgency to keep the line of cars moving through as quickly as possible can be enhanced by setting timing goals per daypart. Many restaurants incentivize their teams to meet those goals, a model that could work in convenience stores as well.
When you first put in the drive-thru, expect some customer disruption, especially from regulars. People get annoyed if changes interrupt a comfortable routine. For example, you may have to remove a few parking spots. The regulars who park in those spots every day when they come in for their coffee or cigarettes may be put off. However, this could be an opportunity for you. If those items are now available at the drive-thru, it might be even more convenient for them. Make sure to check local ordinances on whether it is legal to sell packaged alcohol and tobacco products.
Customers will need some time to get used to the idea of using the drive-thru. We have seen that sales numbers often start off lower than expected as it takes the customer a few trips to remember the option is available. They may be a bit reticent about using it because they wonder what items they might be able to pick up there. People don’t like to feel like they are holding up the line, and if they are unsure what they can purchase through the drive-thru, it may take them some time to give it a try. This is where good interior signage is important, even while the drive-thru is under construction. Adding interior signage can make it very easy for the customers who come into your store to understand what they can purchase at the drive-thru. It might be worth giving them a coupon for a discount to be redeemed only at the drive-thru. Most convenience stores report that after a few months, once the customers get used to the idea, the drive-thru sales numbers are in line with or better than they expected.
Businesses are always looking for new revenue, whether by attracting new customers or getting higher sales from existing customers. Adding a drive-thru is likely to do both, but it takes some careful thought. If you are interested in studying the possibility, go no further than the drive-thru experts at The Howard Company. With thousands of drive-thru systems installed nationwide, our team can help you from site planning through menu design and installation.
This post was originally published in September 2018. It has been revised as of February 2023.