Breakfast Trends, Popular Pizza Joints, and AI in the Drive-Thru

At Intouch Insight, we believe in making data-driven decisions. In addition to the software and services we provide our partners, we conduct ongoing consumer research to help keep brands informed of changes in consumer expectations and habits.

Along with our consumer trends reports and mystery shopping studies, we conduct regular Flash Points - pulse surveys of everyday consumers across North America on a wide range of issues affecting customer experiences.

If you have a burning question, contact us here or email letschat@intouchinsight.com. Below are the findings from three of our latest Flash Points covering:

1. The hottest breakfast trends
2. The most popular pizza joints
3. What do consumers think about AI at the drive-thru

Hottest Breakfast Trends

With demand for breakfast at restaurants expected to grow, we surveyed everyday consumers to uncover their breakfast preferences. Here’s what the survey data showed:

• Cracker Barrel comes out on top for the favorite breakfast chain, followed by IHOP and Denny’s.
• Eggs and pancakes top the list as favorite breakfast menu items, with 21% of respondents picking one of these options as their favorite, followed by french toast at 12%.
• When it comes to frequency of dining-in, 39% of respondents report dining-in at a breakfast restaurant a few times per year, followed by 23% dining-in once a month.
• 63% of those surveyed said yes - they would order take-out from a breakfast restaurant

The most popular pizza joints

As hungry consumers have more food options at their fingertips than ever before, we continue to monitor consumer preferences and ordering habits for pizza chains.

• Pizza Hut jumps ahead of Domino’s as favorite pizza chain in 2023, compared to 2022.
• 2023 is all about making it easy with convenience rounding out the top 3 most important factors when ordering pizza, alongside quality and price; compared to 2022’s 3rd most important factor, variety of menu items.
• 30% of consumers surveyed report ordering pizza once a month, followed by 26% ordering pizza once every two weeks.

What Customers Really Think About AI in the Drive-Thru

With all the external pressures on restaurants in recent years, brands are continuing to use technology as a way to mitigate challenges and deliver top-notch customer experiences. But what does the customer really think about these changes? The latest technologies to hit the drive-thru lane are AI-enabled voice and video technology.

• When it comes to video technology, almost half of the respondents (44%) say they do not like the idea of AI-enabled video technology. Sharing comments like “Big Brother is watching.” and “Too invasive.”
• Similar results are seen for AI-enabled voice technology, with 47% of respondents reporting dislike, but for very different reasons, such as concern over errors, inability to easily make changes, and too much room for mistakes.
• On the positive side, of those who think AI tech offers a better experience - 16% for voice and 21% for video - the ability to improve the speed of service and eliminate the need to talk to employees tops the list for the reasons why.
  
  

What’s your burning question?

We want to help you make informed business decisions. Each of our Flash Points typically collect between 1500-3000 responses in a 24-48 hour period — free of charge!

If you have a burning question, submit your question and the results will be emailed to you the results once the data has been collected. Submit your question here or email letschat@intouchinsight.com.