New data from a pair of companies shows off-premise sales remain the name of the game in quick-service today, though consumers are increasingly displeased with the delivery service they're receiving through third-party providers though they're holding restaurants to blame. 

Black Box Financial Intelligence said its data shows that for the week that ended May 10, overall restaurant comp sales increased 5 percentage points over the previous week, and were, in fact, nearly 20 percentage points better than they were in mid-April. 

Limited-service brands continued to perform far better than other more service-heavy categories, with comp sales down just 6.5% from the same week last year, compared to a drop of 40% for the total restaurant sector, according to Black Box data. The company said the data shows that QSRs have also started seeing significant positive growth in sales year over year, with the category now posting two consecutive weeks of positive comp sales.

Quick-service is also leading all sectors for dine-in comp sales for the week that ended May 10, off 88% from the same week last year, which compared to a decline of 95% for dine-in comp sales for all restaurant categories. 

But the main takeaway from the findings relayed by Black Box is that off-premise remains the lifeline for all categories. This holds especially true for QSR brands which recorded comp sales for off-premise — including delivery, drive-thru and to-go orders — up 31% for the category year-over-year. 

However, in states that have opened to dine-in again, average to-go comp sales are slowing. Average to-go comp sales for these states were up 192% year-over-year for the week ending May 10. That's down from an average over the previous two weeks showing to-go comp sales in those states had been up 226% year-over-year.

Delivery: The thing diners love to hate

The data clearly shows that QSR customers now are hard-wired into restaurant delivery as the means of getting their favorite brand "fix." In fact, a recent survey by food ordering and delivery optimization company, Dragontail Systems, found that only 11% of consumers said they would start going to restaurants and stop ordering for delivery, if both options were available. The company said the data shows that lasting impact the pandemic appears to be having on the restaurant industry, but it's one that presents opportunities, too. 

"Restaurants are, again, in a unique position to exceed customer expectations. And technology can help,"  Dragontail Systems CEO Ido Levanon, told QSRweb. "This is the time for restaurants to take a step back and reevaluate what has and hasn't worked, especially as COVID likely altered everything they were used to, and see where they can optimize their offerings."

But the Dragontail survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers also found that pandemic-era ultra-cautious consumers are largely not happy with the delivery services they are getting. Worse still for QSRs is that when consumers have bad delivery experiences with third-party providers, the restaurant brand they ordered from still gets the blame. The poll found nearly 40% of respondents said they'd fault the restaurant if they placed an order through a delivery app and had a poor experience.

Consumers also expect delivery personnel to wear all the protective equipment they can. In fact, nearly 70% of respondents said food delivered by those who weren't using protective gear has deterred or would deter them from ordering from the same restaurant again. 

Additionally, customers reported lots of complaints, particularly those revolving around incorrect or incomplete orders that weren't delivered on time or at the correct serving temperature. Since more than 80% of those polled reported using third-party delivery as much or more than they did before the pandemic, it's clear that this is a vital customer experience issue for QSRs. 

The cost of delivery is also increasingly a factor with more than a quarter (27%) reporting that expense is their greatest deterrent to ordering delivered meals. The survey also found a considerable percentage (42%) of consumers expressed a lack of confidence in restaurant sanitation and even less confidence about COVID-19 exposure when using delivery services.

"There is a need for restaurants to ensure that they are providing the best service to their customers, including their delivery workers that are on the front lines," Levanon said. "Being able to provide a seamless, transparent, in-house customer experience that doesn't eat into profits is how restaurants are going to stay afloat."

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