Intouch Insight Ltd. (TSXV: INX | OTCQX: INXSF), an Ottawa-based customer experience management solutions provider, has released its 26th Annual Drive-Thru Study, conducted in partnership with QSR Magazine. The study found the average drive-thru visit took 5 minutes and 24 seconds in 2026, the fastest recorded since 2018 and 11.1 seconds quicker than the prior year. Covering 2,145 mystery-shopper visits across 13 quick-service brands in the United States, the study also identified staff friendliness as a key driver of guest satisfaction and tracked improving, though still limited, adoption of voice AI ordering.

Key Points

  • Intouch Insight Ltd. (TSXV: INX | OTCQX: INXSF) — Ottawa-based CX solutions company serving over 300 brands
  • 26th Annual Drive-Thru Study released in partnership with QSR Magazine, covering 13 quick-service brands
  • Average 2026 drive-thru visit: 5 minutes 24 seconds — 58 seconds shorter than the 2021 study peak of 6:22
  • Voice AI order accuracy rose to 90.8% in 2026 from 82.5% in 2025, though AI ordering occurred on fewer than 2% of main-study visits

Drive-Thru Speed Reaches Eight-Year Study High Across 13 Brands

Intouch Insight's mystery shoppers completed 165 visits at each of 13 quick-service brands between June and July 2026, spanning Classic, Chicken, and Beverage segments. Service time — defined as the period from order placement to departure — fell 10.3 seconds year-over-year to 4 minutes and 4 seconds, with window time alone dropping 7.5 seconds to 1 minute and 40 seconds. The release states that speed of service was cited as the most important drive-thru factor by 38.4% of surveyed guests, followed by order accuracy at 28.4%, underscoring the operational priorities brands face.

Staff Friendliness Linked to Satisfaction, Accuracy, and Perceived Value

The study identified a pronounced gap in outcomes between visits rated friendly and those rated not friendly. On friendly visits, which accounted for 79% of observations, guest satisfaction reached 98.6% and willingness to recommend the location stood at 86.5%. When service was rated not friendly, satisfaction dropped to 26.8% and recommendation intent fell to 19.6%. Order accuracy on friendly visits was 91.3%, compared with 73.2% on unfriendly visits, and guests rated value as good or excellent on 58.6% of friendly visits versus 21.4% on unfriendly ones. The study attributes part of the variation to differences in consistent execution across brands.

Voice AI Ordering Accuracy Improves but Reaches Very Few Drive-Thru Guests

A separate sample of 120 visits assessed voice AI ordering at Burger King, Taco Bell, and Wendy's locations reported to be running the technology. Order accuracy at AI-enabled locations improved to 90.8% from 82.5% the prior year, surpassing the 86.7% accuracy recorded for the same brands in the main study. Despite the accuracy gains, voice AI took some or all of the order on just 36 of the 2,145 main-study visits — fewer than 2% — indicating that operational deployment of the technology remains in early stages across the quick-service sector.