Curbside pickup is a convenient service valued by both consumers and restaurants. Yet, it remains unclear what parts of the curbside pickup experiences matter most to restaurant customers – and how restaurants can deliver better service.
The Makeup of Consumers’ Restaurant Curbside Pickup Experiences
- Information search experience during word-of-mouth encounter (e.g., browsing online reviews and products on the app)
- Ordering experience during function encounter (e.g., placing and tracking orders on the app or website)
- Pickup experience during distributor encounter (e.g., waiting for the order and interacting with the staff onsite)
- Food consumption experience during service results encounter (e.g., consuming the food)
Inspiration for the Study
It is unlikely that all four phases of service encounter experiences have the same impact on consumer satisfaction with a restaurant’s curbside pickup service, which motivated me to investigate what matters most to consumers. I put special interest in analyzing how consumer gender and age, restaurant price point, and franchise structure (chain vs. independent) may affect the relationship between the four phases of service-encounter experiences and their satisfaction (Figure 2).
The Methods
I recruited U.S. participants from the Qualtrics panel and collected 297 valid responses. To avoid the possible impact from people's prior experiences or habits of repeatedly using curbside pickup from the same restaurant, I only recruited the informants who had just tried the curbside pickup service at a restaurant for the first time but had never used that same restaurant’s takeout or curbside pickup in the past, even though they might have tried its dine-in service before. I used a 16-item scale to measure consumer satisfaction with the four service-encounter experiences and two items to assess their evaluations of their overall curbside pickup experiences. I used regression analysis to evaluate the proposed relationships.
The Findings
I reported the findings in the Journal of Foodservice Business Research. Here are the insights.
The main effect – Food consumption (the most significant factor) and pickup experiences were influential in shaping consumers' overall satisfaction with restaurant curbside pickup. The other two service encounter experiences were not statistically significant.
Gender and age differences – Younger consumers (aged 18–40) and females value a smooth, customizable ordering experience. An above-average pickup experience had a higher impact on male consumers. An above-average food consumption experience had a more salient impact on older customers.
The price point of a restaurant is not an influential factor. Independent restaurants benefit more from exceptional service at pickup, whereas chain restaurants gain higher satisfaction from high-quality food.
What Does That Mean to Restaurant Owners and Managers?
- Focus on the core product – high-quality food, including using high-efficiency containers to preserve food texture and quality.
- Ensure a smooth pickup experience by designating pickup zones and providing staff training.
- Market pleasant ordering experience to female and younger consumers, emphasizing user-friendly ordering processes, convenient payment methods, order tracking capabilities, and customization options.
- Emphasize efficiency and friendly pickup service for male consumers.
- Promote high food quality and safety standards to older consumers.
- Chain restaurants can enhance their impact by consistently delivering high-quality food.
- Independent restaurants may promote their friendly pickup service.
- Restaurants, in general, can utilize the 16-item scale to survey their customers for new business insights and benchmarking purposes, such as comparing different consumer groups and various locations for multi-unit operations.
Besides restaurateurs, food ordering apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub may also refer to the above findings as they develop marketing strategies. They should also consider incorporating the 16-item scale for a more in-depth assessment of user satisfaction.
What Matters to You in Restaurant Curbside Pickup?
Does your restaurant run a curbside pickup service? How do your experiences align with these findings?
As a customer, what matters most to you when using curbside pickup in restaurants and/or supermarkets? Do the insights reported here resonate with your experience?
Note:
- All visual diagrams were created by Linchi Kwok.
- All pictures were generated by ChatGPT.
Question:
ReplyDeleteAs a customer, what matters most to you when using curbside pickup in restaurants and/or supermarkets? Do the insights reported here resonate with your experience?
Answer:
The most significant aspect to me when I employ curbside pickup is the speed and ease of the experience when I get there. When my food is made on time and somebody takes it out fast that is a big difference. I also concur that the quality of food is most important. When the food is cold, wet, or poorly packaged then the entire experience becomes a waste regardless of the speed with which it was done. The ordering system is also of concern to me. When I am able to customize, pay with ease, and monitor my order, I would be far more likely to use the service again.
This was an interesting article as I’m quite surprised that price point is the a non influential factor. I think that if I were to pay more for food, I would prefer to dine in to better enjoy the quality of the food I’m paying for. In all the times I’ve utilized curbside pick up, I believe that the quality of food, which is consistent with the article’s finding, happened to be what’s most important to me. My concern with curbside pick up is the timing of when the food is made vs the time I get there to pick it up, I always aim for the estimated time frame they give me or else the food becomes soggy, or cold. I always try to steer away from take outs but when I do utilize it, high food quality, efficiency and a friendly pickup experience as mentioned in the article resonate with me.
ReplyDeleteInteresting read! Curbside pickup has truly reshaped customer convenience, especially in the food industry. It shows how little details in service can make a big difference in customer loyalty. At eClergys, we also focus on making the shopping experience seamles whether it’s clergy robes, cassocks, or jackets, easy access and customer care remain our top priorities.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think that curbside has taken over out of convenience and as second source of income for restaurants, markets, and other businesses. For the consumer, curbside can also be a comfort because the act of socializing with a server for example can be overwhelming. In my experience working for a restaurant allows me to observe why guests prefer to pay for the quick pick ups rather than the dine in. Based on your research, curbside pick-up does effect the relationship between the consumer and business because of the quality that is received. Sometime the food can be cold, incomplete, or not up to guest standards, but third party applications also have an influence. Third party applications such as doordash, postmates, and UberEats have a policy of taking customers order as soon as possible to their door but that is not always the case. Although it may seem that curbside pickup is the bet option, consumers should keep in mind that the quality will not always match the quantity.
ReplyDeleteAs a customer, I value quick service and a positive attitude from the staff when I pick up curbside. Obviously, doing something like curb-side pickup means you don’t have time to either order inside or stay to consume whatever you ordered, so having the order ready at the chosen time is very important. I would also say that, even though curbside pickup is usually a quick interaction, it's still essential to maintain a positive attitude from both the worker and the customer so both parties can have a positive experience.
ReplyDeleteAolany Melendez, November 6, 2025, 8:58pm
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ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to see curbside pickup for restaurants gain so much traction during COVID. While I used curbside pickup a fair amount during that time, I don’t think I have used it even once since then. Many of the societal and operational changes that occurred as a result of COVID have remained with us, while some have been abandoned once they were no longer strictly necessary. I am curious as to whether or not the curbside pickup trend has remained strong since the COVID restrictions were lifted. Do you have any articles or resources that you can recommend to learn more about this?
ReplyDeleteQuestion:
ReplyDeleteAs a customer, what matters most to you when using curbside pickup in restaurants and/or supermarkets?
As a customer when using curbside pickup there are a few things that matter to me most. One of them being efficiency and speed. When picking up my order I am doing so with the intent that my order was prepared ahead of time and that there is not wait for my order. Another thing I am looking for is for someone to meet me at my car door. I have experienced certain curbside pickup stations where I have to get out of my car. I believe part of curbside pickup is the luxury of not getting out of your car.
Sadie Reese
11/15/25
3:22 pm
This was really interesting because I never thought about curbside pickup having so many different phases. For me, the quality of the food after I get home is honestly the biggest deal.
ReplyDeleteIf the food feels soggy or cold, it kind of ruins the whole experience, even if everything else went smoothly. I also agree that the pickup part matters a lot nobody wants to wait outside forever or have confusing instructions. I think restaurants that communicate clearly and package food well are the ones that win people over. It’s cool seeing data back up what customers already feel.
Question:
What do you think restaurants struggle with more the pickup process or keeping food quality high?
— Kalea Harper
I thought the article was interesting because I usually do not pick or prefer the curbside pickup option but sometime like at McDonalds after ordering in the drive-thru, they make me pull over to a pickup space to wait for my food. When this happens, I am usually annoyed, but after receiving my food I do not care anymore about the curbside pickup because I knew my food has arrived. Establishments like McDonalds do put an emphasis on the packaging and quality of food because they want a burger in Pomona to taste the same in Diamond Bar, so people know what to expect. So as long as the curbside pickup can maintain the standard that the brand has established, then there is no need to be dis-satisfied about curbside pickup as it streamlines the customer experience, really putting the fast in fast food.
ReplyDelete- Wilson Chen
This is an interesting article as I order curbside pickup often. I agree with the results that the pick-up experience and the food quality are the two most important parts of the process. It is interesting to me that the price point is not an influential factor, as I always will compare menus of their dine-in and to-go prices to make sure I am not unfairly paying more than I should for to-go. I have run into the problem of more restaurants rolling back their curbside pick-up policies unless you are unable to go indoors, as it can hurt their efficiency to have somebody running food out to cars as their job.
ReplyDeleteCurbside pickup has definitely grown in popularity in the past couple of years, gaining a large popularity bump during COVID. It is something that I have found myself doing more since COVID and I find that the results from this study are pretty consistent with my personal experiences. I think that the quality of the food is the most important thing. While I value an overall smooth experience with good customer service, if the food itself is not good then I will not be ordering from that place again. However, the pickup experience alone is something that I could overlook if the food is good enough. This is why I think that focusing on food quality and possibly limiting their pickup menu only to dishes that will be able to travel well is the most important thing for restaurants.
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ReplyDeleteThe restaurant I currently work at does not do curbside pick up, but in the past I have worked in locations that did. I worked at an italian restaurant during the pandemic that was also doing ghost kitchens to make extra money. The biggest complication for us then was the timing of the food, because the cooks received the tickets like any other and they made it in order with their tickets, but we had the issue that food was being made to early, so by the time people came to pick it up got home and ate it or it got delivered to them, it was cold, and that was a big complain. For me as well when i get curbside pick up thats also a big issue of quality of food, you often get cold food, or crispy things are soggy and other quality issues. The main issue at the restaurant was the applications didn't let us know when people were on their way to pick up so timing the food production to create the best quality was difficult. Eventually the apps got updates that helped that a little more, but timing food to ensure food quality by the time they ate it, was always a difficult timing process, often having food sitting for too long, or the opposite of people waiting in the lobby for long periods, leading to negative reviews
What I found the most interesting was how the article mentions the curbside pickup journey into four Phases and shows how food consumption quality and the pickup matter far more for overall satisfactions than ordering. The demographic flip was also interesting how younger and female consumers like a smooth ordering flow while men react more to average pickup service and older guest care more about food quality. I think understanding the Demographic flip is the most important. Understanding who your main consumers are and prioritizing their service standards during the Pickup and Ordering experience.
ReplyDeleteThis article was interesting to read about, and I think the quality of food is something that is quite inconsistent and hard to manage. I know that sometimes it can be entirely due to the customer not coming in to optimize the freshness of the food prepared by the kitchen. Other times, the app may not be the most reliable, and the order being ready doesn't always update in the app despite the order already being on the counter of the restaurant. In fact this is even a persistent issue with on-campus Grubhub orders. I've personally made an order to a campus restaurant, and although the time has come for the order to be ready, the status doesn't update to being ready for pick-up. I think the findings from this article are so interesting especially the mention of younger consumers valuing a smooth customizable experience, and I certainly agree. I personally would value smooth experience with ordering over quality of food.
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