4 Ways We’re Transforming The Beverage-Focused Drive-Thru
Last week, we talked about the challenges facing QSRs in 2025. This week, we want to explore how beverage-focused QSRs serve most of their customers: the iconic drive-thru.
Drive-thrus symbolize the ever-growing desire for faster service - for consumers and businesses alike. Today, while customer expectations are at an all-time high and efficiency is more critical than ever, many beverage-focused concepts are experiencing throughput bottlenecks. At Sidework, we're solving for this by building tech perfectly suited to get more cars across the window, faster. Let’s look at four ways we help drive-thru QSRs succeed.
#1: Technology allows high-customization and speed to co-exist.
People love customization. For chains that specialize in beverages, customers expect the option to personalize their drinks - an extra shot of energy, light or heavy syrup, milk substitutions galore! These orders create strain if staff need to manually execute all of those changes instantly and with a high level of consistency.
Sidework’s dispenser solves this problem. With the push of a button, our technology automatically handles all of those modifiers and builds each drink with perfect precision - customizations and all. Even the most complicated drink is dispensed in under 10 seconds, which allows staff to have every drink ready before the customer pulls up to the pick-up window. By automating the most time-intensive parts of drive-thru beverage service, we help QSRs serve more customers per hour and significantly cut down - or eliminate - wait times.
#2: Sidework turbocharges drive-thru throughput.
Faster service means more cars moving through the drive-thru and increased revenue potential. With our technology, QSRs can process more orders per hour, maximizing profitability without sacrificing quality or great customer service. The ability to serve more customers quickly is a game-changer, especially during peak hours.
But what’s the value of increased throughput? According to QSR Magazine’s 2024 Drive-Thru Report, it’s massive:
#3: Sidework solves labor challenges.
Labor costs are rising and staff shortages are real in 2025. Sidework helps teams focus on customer service while our dispensers handle the manual labor associated with drink-building. Training new employees to use our technology only takes a few minutes, and its simplicity helps smooth strain caused by high turnover.
During peak hours, our technology maximizes throughput. During off-peak hours, it saves labor by allowing fewer employees to do more, with less stress.
#4: Sidework integrates with every workflow.
As QSRs embrace AI-driven voice ordering and order-ahead platforms, seamless beverage preparation becomes even more important. Our technology integrates and pulls drinks from every order point - the drive-thru, in-store POS systems, and mobile platforms - and tells staff members exactly where that finished drink needs to go. This ensures a smooth, coordinated workflow that keeps the drive-thru moving efficiently and automatically.
Final Thoughts
Drive-thru success hinges on speed, accuracy, and efficiency. Sidework is leading the charge to revolutionize beverage-focused QSRs by automating the challenges that come with increased customer demands. Ready to take your drive-thru to the next level? Learn more about Sidework for QSRs, or drop us a line.