Analysis of Expected and Actual Waiting Time in Fast Food Restaurants

Industial Engineering Letters, Vol. 2, No. 5, 2012

11 Pages Posted: 3 Dec 2012

See all articles by Mathias Dharmawirya

Mathias Dharmawirya

Bina Nusantara University (BINUS) - Binus Business School

Hera Oktadiana

Bina Nusantara University (BINUS) - Binus Business School

Erwin Adi

Bina Nusantara University (BINUS) - Binus Business School

Date Written: June 30, 2012

Abstract

People are willing to queue and pay to get food. Knowing peoples’ opinions on queuing is of interest to restaurant stakeholders since it and related actions have a direct effect on revenue. While most previous studies focused on dine-in restaurants, we observed queuing for fast food restaurants. Specifically, we observed the actual waiting time of customers for a number of fast food restaurants, and compared the metrics with waiting times that customers expected. During lunch time peak hours, customers spent on average 5.4 minutes waiting before they could get their orders. The 5.4 minutes consisted of 2.42 minutes of queuing time and 2.98 minutes of service time. This total waiting time is only slightly below the actual expected waiting time of 5.42 minutes. How the fast food restaurants try to manage the perceived waiting time of customers was also discussed.

Keywords: restaurant, queuing time, queue management, waiting time, customer satisfaction

Suggested Citation

Dharmawirya, Mathias and Oktadiana, Hera and Adi, Erwin, Analysis of Expected and Actual Waiting Time in Fast Food Restaurants (June 30, 2012). Industial Engineering Letters, Vol. 2, No. 5, 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2184107

Mathias Dharmawirya (Contact Author)

Bina Nusantara University (BINUS) - Binus Business School ( email )

Jl Hang Lekir I no.6
Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta, 12120
Indonesia

Hera Oktadiana

Bina Nusantara University (BINUS) - Binus Business School ( email )

Jl Hang Lekir I no.6
Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta, 12120
Indonesia

Erwin Adi

Bina Nusantara University (BINUS) - Binus Business School ( email )

Jl Hang Lekir I no.6
Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta, 12120
Indonesia

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