Best Served Hot: What Consumers Want in QSR

The Quick Serve Restaurant, or QSR, is quick and convenient: a great place to satisfy your appetite for food. But research shows that consumers are hungry for more, and by and large, QSRs are not feeding those needs. Why are customers unfulfilled even after a great meal? The most highly rated quick serve restaurants, according to information complied by PYMTS.com, are excelling in four areas of innovation.

  • In-store events: 97% of the top-rated restaurants offer participation in regular events sponsored by the company. It’s no surprise that consumer engagement is key in today’s culture.
  • In-store inventory: 83% of these high-ranking locations offer updates on inventory to its visitors. Information is key to QSR diners.
  • Accepts QR codes: Only 18% of all QSRs in the Restaurant Readiness Index accept QR code, but 43% of the favored locales offer this service.
  • Accepts contactless payment: 57% of the most innovative companies accept contactless payment, compared to 35% of their less innovative competitors.

The results show a clear preference for digital innovation in the industry, yet these areas are being ignored by most QSRs. In evidence of this trend, the Restaurant Readiness Index also revealed that the presence of time-saving in-store kiosks is an area of growing preference. It turns out that besides good food, the Q in QSR is a much-adored innovation in eating out for today’s consumer.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

micro internships
The Job Dating Model: How Micro Internships Build Talent, Enable Smarter Hiring, and Boost Campus Impact
November 17, 2025

Experiential learning is surging in relevance. Employers are finding it harder than ever to evaluate early-career talent, while students are graduating into a labor market where more than half—about 52%—end up in roles that don’t require their degree. That disconnect is prompting colleges to reimagine how they equip students for meaningful career entry. Meanwhile,…

Read More
Bouvet
Chasing Radio’s Rarest Signal: Meet Donato IK2EGL and the Bold Expedition to Earth’s Most Isolated Outpost
November 15, 2025

Few destinations stir the imagination of radio amateurs quite like Bouvet Island—a windswept, ice-covered outpost in the South Atlantic Ocean and one of the most remote places on Earth. Reaching it demands months of planning, rugged endurance, and a willingness to face conditions that few humans ever experience. For the dedicated team behind this expedition,…

Read More
Baker Tilly
Baker Tilly Bridges Cultures and Markets to Power U.S.–China Business Growth
November 14, 2025

Baker Tilly’s U.S.–based China practice supports Chinese enterprises operating in the United States as well as U.S. companies with Chinese-heritage leadership. Team members such as Beverly Bian, Terry Dickens, and Lucy Ni work with clients ranging from early-stage ventures to major multinational organizations navigating cross-border growth. The practice distinguishes itself through its bilingual capabilities…

Read More
construction
Empowering Excellence: How Rick Ward Elevates Southwest Construction Services
November 13, 2025

In an industry where timelines tighten and jobsite complexities grow by the day, quality assurance has become one of construction’s most defining—and differentiating—disciplines. At its core, QA isn’t just about correcting mistakes; it’s about building systems and people capable of preventing them in the first place. This is especially true in specialized sectors…

Read More