What Customers Want From QSR Technology and Where Brands Fall Short
The 2025 Restaurant Tech Report by Canopy provides a nuanced look at how technology is shaping customer experiences in the quick-service restaurant (QSR) sector, highlighting both benefits and ongoing challenges.
Canopy, a provider of remote monitoring and management (RMM) software for connected products, recently released a report on what customers think about restaurant technology at quick-service restaurants. Fast-Food Friction: The 2025 Restaurant Tech Report is based on a national survey of Americans who eat at quick-service restaurants (QSRs) and highlights how technology influences customers’ experiences and brand loyalty.
Bear in mind, Canopy sells services for monitoring. We always recommend kiosk monitoring.
Strengths of the Report
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Comprehensive Data: The report is based on a national survey of 457 U.S. adults across diverse locations and demographics, lending credibility and relevance to its findings.
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Balanced Perspective: It discusses both the positive impacts of technology (speed, accuracy, customization, increased loyalty) and the significant reliability issues, showing a holistic view of the customer experience.
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Actionable Insights: By pinpointing specific friction points—like kiosk malfunctions, misunderstood AI orders, and payment problems—the report offers valuable guidance for QSR operators to prioritize improvements.
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Recognition of Standouts: Brands like McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, and Taco Bell are highlighted for delivering superior technology experiences, helping readers understand what sets successful adopters apart.
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Forward-looking Recommendations: The report advocates for real-time monitoring and automated troubleshooting to address tech reliability, providing useful, practical advice for industry leaders.
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Segmented Findings: It differentiates experiences by group size, frequency of visits, and location, allowing for nuanced conclusions about which customers benefit most—and highlighting regional disparities in service reliability.
Weaknesses of the Report
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Sample Size and Scope: Although 457 respondents is respectable, the report does not elaborate on the breakdown (e.g., age, income, specific brands visited), making it difficult to assess the full representativeness of the data.
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Potential Bias Toward Technology Solutions: The report is published by Canopy, a provider of restaurant technology monitoring solutions, which may subtly shape the emphasis on tech fixes and the value of their own services.
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Limited Analysis of Human Factors: While tech reliability is well covered, the report doesn’t deeply examine how staff behavior, training, or customer support alongside tech might improve or worsen experiences.
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Missing Financial Impact Data: The survey references loyalty and repeat business but does not provide concrete metrics on how much poor technology performance damages revenue or how well improvements pay off for QSRs.
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Lack of Detailed Brand Comparisons: While top brands are named, the report does not offer side-by-side data or rankings for other chains, nor does it deeply compare tactics across top performers and laggards.
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Overall
The Canopy report offers valuable, balanced intelligence for QSR leaders and industry stakeholders by spotlighting both the promise and pain points of restaurant technology, though its analysis is tilted toward technology solutions and lacks deeper context on financial returns and human factors.