Case Study - Sonic
Executive Summary
SONIC America’s Drive-In is a fast food joint where customers drive into a car slot and order from a menu at the driver's side. Orders are placed through an intercom system, and then you can swipe your plastic card near the intercom to pay. The novelty is that servers roller skate out to your car for a true drive-in experience. There are two options either you can take your order to go, or stay and eat in the car. “SONIC has over 3,500 locations in more than 40 states, serving around 3 million customers per day. SONIC offers a food selection of hamburgers, chili cheese hot dogs, onion rings and tater tots, along with breakfast burritos, wrap sandwiches, and frozen desserts” (www.sonicdrivein.com).
Success in any business is both analyzing the past experiences and searching for future opportunities and SONIC is no exception in this matter. To win more customers they will need to come up with some innovative ideas. Obviously, their specialty service, the drive-in experience cannot be enjoyed without a vehicle. Establishment of new indoor dine-in areas could serve the potential walk- in customer’s needs. Also it is increasingly difficult to fight the cold weather for the roller skating servers in some part of the United States, but more importantly it is a interfering factor for SONIC in their further expansion. In addition, fast food restaurant’s marketing strategy that they provide all of their consumers with the possibility to socialize with others in a relaxed ambiance cannot be successful if you need to seat in your car while eating your food. They provide with limited number of outdoor siting place, but again, SONIC needs to solve the weather issue to satisfy their customer’s wants and needs.
To eliminate the geographical barriers of northern states in order to increase the number of franchises is one of the main objectives to achieve. Moreover the given business concept, that they built their company on the car based culture loses them
SONIC America’s Drive-In is a fast food joint where customers drive into a car slot and order from a menu at the driver's side. Orders are placed through an intercom system, and then you can swipe your plastic card near the intercom to pay. The novelty is that servers roller skate out to your car for a true drive-in experience. There are two options either you can take your order to go, or stay and eat in the car. “SONIC has over 3,500 locations in more than 40 states, serving around 3 million customers per day. SONIC offers a food selection of hamburgers, chili cheese hot dogs, onion rings and tater tots, along with breakfast burritos, wrap sandwiches, and frozen desserts” (www.sonicdrivein.com).
Success in any business is both analyzing the past experiences and searching for future opportunities and SONIC is no exception in this matter. To win more customers they will need to come up with some innovative ideas. Obviously, their specialty service, the drive-in experience cannot be enjoyed without a vehicle. Establishment of new indoor dine-in areas could serve the potential walk- in customer’s needs. Also it is increasingly difficult to fight the cold weather for the roller skating servers in some part of the United States, but more importantly it is a interfering factor for SONIC in their further expansion. In addition, fast food restaurant’s marketing strategy that they provide all of their consumers with the possibility to socialize with others in a relaxed ambiance cannot be successful if you need to seat in your car while eating your food. They provide with limited number of outdoor siting place, but again, SONIC needs to solve the weather issue to satisfy their customer’s wants and needs.
To eliminate the geographical barriers of northern states in order to increase the number of franchises is one of the main objectives to achieve. Moreover the given business concept, that they built their company on the car based culture loses them