Top Ranked QSRs
In a cozy world, where conventional QSRs view their competitive landscape with blinders, In-N-Out would be the north star that all QSRs would aspire to.
They have massive consumer reach within their footprint: 47% of people who live in DMAs where there is at least one In-N-Out present visit the chain at least occasionally for a meal, the second highest rate in the country, after only McDonald’s. In-N-Out also has one of the highest foot traffic 5 YR growth rates and the highest emotional connection with visitors…among pure QSRs.
However, the reality is that certain c-store chains have already mastered the c-store/QSR hybrid, and pure QSRs must operate with eyes wide open, unobstructed by blinders. In-N-Out has impressive customer perceptions of the value proposition in areas that matter more for driving outcomes, but they don’t have the most impressive QSR customer value proposition, nor do they have the most impressive emotional connection or growth… Read on to see a more comprehensive list of top QSR customer value propositions in the country.
The full 1st Quartile are a mix of retailers: convenience stores blurring the lines with QSRs – like Buc-ee’s, Wawa, Sheetz and Kwik Trip – and traditional QSR household names – like Chick-Fil-A, In-N-Out and Raising Cane’s. There are four clear different strategies employed by QSRs, to land in the 1st Quartile. Some of the retailers in the 1st Quartile wield just one of these strategies, but the retailers who are clearly separated even from other 1st Quartile QSRs wield two of the four strategies. We’ll discuss these in the follow sections.
First, a reminder: this ranking blends traditional convenience stores who have converted a clear majority of their customers to use them as an occasional breakfast, lunch or dinner destination. Only 7 of the 41 largest c-store chains in the U.S. met this criteria for also being considered a QSR, and five of them appear in the top quartile of QSRs.
This proves that the QSR landscape will only get tougher and more crowded in the future, as many c-store chains today who don’t make our definition of QSR – like RaceTrac that today only sees a minority of their customers use them as a meal destination but may soon see that number jump due to the acquisition of Potbelly’s – are making big moves to change that.