We met our daughter at a Dunkin’ to bring her three daughters home for an overnight sleepover. Since we were there, why not take home some munchkins? The drive thru lane was clogged, so I said, “I’m just going to go inside to order.”
Inside, the place was hopping. It only took a few seconds for me to realize no one was going to be taking my order at the register, so I stepped up to the video kiosk and tapped in a twenty-five piece assorted munchkin order.
As I waited, I watched the crew efficiently handle a barrage of drive-thru, mobile, and walk-in orders. I was fascinated by a monitor over the drive- thru register that monitored greeting time, wait time, prep time, and delivery time. Some numbers were green (I assumed that was good), while other numbers were red (needs improvement). Every fifteen seconds or so, the screen would change to one that compared the performance of other Dunkin’ stores in the area.
This busy store was #12, about halfway down the list. I watched as the headset-wearing crew filled bags with donuts, made sandwiches, poured coffee and other drinks, lined up bags of food, and handed them out the window. The eight employees moved around each other and worked well together. I don’t know how they could have moved up in the standings. Maybe the other stores weren’t as busy?
The greeting time was immediate. Perfect score there. Order fulfillment? About a minute and a half. Red numbers. Pretty good if you ask me.
However, I waited eight minutes for my bag of munchkins. Had I stayed in the drive-thru lane, I would have been out of there in about four minutes. I knew that my wife and three granddaughters would be impatiently wondering what was taking so long.
But what could I do? I had already committed to the walk-up kiosk. Drive-thru is the priority. Get ’em in, and get ’em out as fast as you can. I could order on the app. They love that. Walk up to the register? Hello, boomer!
Waite for it... 