Shake Shack makes huge change customers will love

It’s not a particularly difficult thing to get a hamburger while on the go. There are plenty of food joints that can serve up a burger in the time it takes to ask if you want fries on the side.

But Shake Shack isn’t your typical burger place.

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Sure, burgers are a mainstay on the menu. But if you were to poll a room full of people, they’d probably agree that a Shake Shack burger exudes an air of quality that its fast food competitors just can’t match.

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Plus, Shake Shack has a couple of key menu items that tend to draw fans in.

If you’ve never experienced one of the restaurant’s hand-spun milkshakes, you’re missing out. The shakes are made with frozen custard and are thicker and richer than your typical milkshake.

The fries at Shake Shack also stand out as a major taste bud pleaser. If you’re a fan of crinkle cut fries with texture, it’s worth saving room for an order.

Shake Shack is on a tear

During its most recent fiscal quarter, Shake Shack’s total revenue grew 10.5% year over year. System-wide sales increased 10.4% annually.

The company also reported net income of $4.5 million.

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“Over the past year, our team has worked to evolve into a performance-based organization that can leverage the scale that we are building with each new Shack, while continuing to put our team members and guests first,” said CEO Rob Lynch.

“This evolution has resulted in better guest service, operational improvements and productivity, culinary innovation and menu strategy, and the foundation of a brand marketing model.”

In its shareholder letter, the company said it was pleased with its recent financial results. The company opened 11 new locations during the quarter.

Shake Shack has big plans to improve the customer experience

Shake Shack fans are often quick to tout the high quality of the chain’s food. But if there’s one area where Shake Shack tends to fall down, it’s speed, or lack thereof.

During its most recent earnings call, Shake Shack was thrilled to announce that it had improved its speed of service and order accuracy for five consecutive quarters. But the company isn’t done.

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Now, Shake Shack is making additional improvements to the drive-thru experience in the hopes of getting customers their food even faster.

“We are focused on maintaining the high levels of guest service that we have delivered over the last six months,” Lynch said. “While we’ve gotten more productive, we’ve also increased our guest satisfaction. That is our No. 1 priority.”

Last year, Shake Shack reduced the average order wait time by a full minute and hopes to improve upon that in the coming year. As part of that aim, Shake Shack is making changes to its drive-thru.

The company is experimenting with digital ordering boards that feature clear combo options to speed up the ordering process. The new combo boards have already been installed in eight restaurants and will be expanded to 40 locations by the end of May.

So far, the combo boards seem to be doing the trick.

In the past month, drive-thru Shake Shack locations with combo boards have reported major improvements in ordering time, speed of service, accuracy, and customer satisfaction.

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At a time when other chains are rethinking their menus, Shake Shack is tackling a different part of the customer experience. But it’s a move that makes sense for the brand.

Customers already very clearly love the food. If Shake Shack can find a way to get it to them more quickly, the chain could be looking at some pretty sweet numbers in the coming year. 

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