Fast food restaurants improving service, Americans now eating out more than ever

For the first time ever, Americans are spending more eating out than on groceries as fast food restaurants improved the quality of the service, according to the newly released American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) for 2016.

Customer satisfaction with the Accommodation and Food Services sector is up 0.5% to 78.7 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s 100-point scale. The increase is due to a 2.6% improvement for limited-service (fast food) restaurants. Full-service restaurants dropped 1.2% to 81, but remained one of the top four industries with the highest customer satisfaction.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States.

The ACSI uses data from interviews with roughly 70,000 customers annually as inputs to an econometric model for analyzing customer satisfaction with more than 300 companies in 43 industries and 10 economic sectors, including various services of federal and local government agencies. The ACSI report is based on 4,786 customer surveys collected in March 2016.

“Americans are now spending more money dining out than shopping for groceries,” said Claes Fornell, ACSI chairman and founder. “Fast food restaurants appear to be capitalizing on this trend more than full-service restaurants, maintaining the lower prices and speedy service that has long defined the industry, while also appealing to health-conscious consumers via more diverse offerings and higher-quality ingredients.”

Nearly all fast food restaurants achieve higher customer satisfaction, with a notable exception being Chipotle Mexican Grill, which debuted near the top of the industry last year. Chipotle dropped 6% to 78 after suffering from a spate of food-related illnesses.

“Higher quality drives the improving scores for the industry, but quality issues relating to food-borne illnesses knocked down Chipotle,” said ACSI Managing Director David VanAmburg. “Just as Netflix’s stock took a dive after the singular event of its pricing and Qwikster’s branding misstep in 2011, Chipotle’s stock also has fallen after its food-quality crisis. Netflix rebounded rather quickly, but it can take more time for a restaurant to recover from quality issues.”

SIT-DOWN RESTAURANTS SLIGHTLY DOWN IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
According to the report on the food service industry, smaller restaurant chains and independent restaurants, which make up the bulk of the industry, are behind the dip in customer satisfaction for sit-down dining this year.

The combined ACSI score for these restaurants fell 2% to 81, but the industry overall remains very even. Over the past 10 years, customer satisfaction with full-service restaurants has never fallen below 80.

According to diners, full-service restaurants do a great job in getting orders right (89) and restaurants are clean and well laid out (86). However, many elements of the dining experience rate slightly below what they were a year ago, including food quality (86), waitstaff courtesy and helpfulness (85), and variety of beverage options (82).

According to patrons, service speed (82), along with beverage variety, are low points for the industry. On the other hand, food menu variety has improved (86). Likewise, full-service restaurant websites are better, with a user satisfaction rating of 83.

FAST FOOD CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON THE RISE
Customer satisfaction with fast food restaurants is up 2.6% to an ACSI score of 79. Price has always been a strong point for fast food, but a new focus on quality ingredients is helping to boost quick-service restaurants to levels approaching sit-down restaurants.

Chicken specialist Chick-fil-A leads the category, gaining 1% to an ACSI score of 87. According to its customers, Chick-fil-A surpassed other fast food restaurants by a wide margin. Papa John’s came in a distant second at 82 even though its score is up 5% from a year ago.

Hamburger chains came in below the industry average, but all showed improvement. Burger King jumped 6% to tie Wendy’s (+4%) at 76, and Jack in the Box got a 3% boost to 74. While McDonald’s remained in last place at 69, the fast food giant gained 3% from a year ago primarily on the strength of its new all-day breakfast menu.

Fast food restaurants receive fairly high marks for the overall dining experience, but remain well below full-service restaurants. According to customers, food orders are accurate (86) and the quality of food (83) has improved from a year ago.

Fast food chains provide courteous staff (83) and layout and cleanliness scores have improved (83). Fast food websites (83) are above average compared to the ACSI score for all websites (80.0). Speed of checkout or delivery — a hallmark of the fast food experience — got good marks from diners and showed slight improvement over a year ago (82).

Consumers are the least satisfied with food and beverage variety. Drink options rated lowest at 79, suggesting that companies might gain traction with customers by expanding choices to meet changing consumer palettes, especially as sweetened soft drinks continue to fall out of favor.