--- description: About 70% of sales at McDonald’s are made at the drive-thru title: McDonald's to Looks to Improve the Drive-Thru Window image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cdba33544768a02/698852eb35ba6f2deac0d902/185747019.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Fast Food](/tag/fast-food/) ## Fast Food Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # McDonald's Looks to Improve the Drive-Thru Window by [John Kell / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## John Kell / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 23, 2015 5:51 PM CUT  A sign directs customers to the drive-thru at a McDonald's restaurant on Oct. 24, 2013 in Des Plaines, Ill. A sign directs customers to the drive-thru at a McDonald's restaurant on Oct. 24, 2013 in Des Plaines, Ill.Scott Olson—Getty Images by [John Kell / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## John Kell / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 23, 2015 5:51 PM CUT McDonald’s wants to make sure that customers are lovin’ its service—both in stores and from their cars. The fast food giant is focusing on improving the drive-thru ordering process to be more personal and accurate, Bloomberg [reports](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-23/mcdonald-s-knows-you-re-sick-of-screw-ups-at-drive-thru-windows "undefined"). The new method is called “ask, ask, tell,” and it gives three chances for a McDonald’s employee to check that the customer order is in fact accurate. Why is this so important? Bloomberg reports 70% of sales at McDonald’s are made at the drive-thru. The fast-food purveyor is currently in the early stages of a turnaround led by CEO Steve Easterbrook, who often touts an increased focus on serving hot and fresh food with fast and friendly service. While that seems like a fairly simple formula, McDonald’s has faced persistent criticism that the chain’s restaurants were failing to consistently deliver on those promises. But a focus on operations has begun to pay off: McDonald’s last month [reported](http://fortune.com/2015/10/22/mcdonalds-earnings-sales/ "undefined") its first quarterly increase in U.S. same-restaurant sales in two years. Investors are also paying attention. McDonald’s shares have increased 22% so far this year—easily besting the performance of fast-casual powerhouses Panera and Chipotle. The drive-thru is an important element of the “service” portion of McDonald’s turnaround strategy. Some other investments there have included the establishment of a digital platform. McDonald’s was the first in its industry to accept Apple Pay in the drive-thru. It is also enhancing drive-thru capacity at many of the new and re-imagined locations it has opened in the U.S. _This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2015/11/23/mcdonalds-drive-thru-windows/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_Fortune.com_](http://fortune.com/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4124509/mcdonalds-improve-drive-thru/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4124509/mcdonalds-improve-drive-thru/"},"headline":"McDonald's Looks to Improve the Drive-Thru Window","datePublished":"2015-11-23T17:51:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:51:16.906Z","description":"About 70% of sales at McDonald’s are made at the drive-thru","url":"https://time.com/4124509/mcdonalds-improve-drive-thru/","keywords":["Fast Food"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cdba33544768a02/698852eb35ba6f2deac0d902/185747019.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"John Kell / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cdba33544768a02/698852eb35ba6f2deac0d902/185747019.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"mcdonalds","caption":"mcdonalds","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/fast-food/","name":"Fast Food"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4124509/mcdonalds-improve-drive-thru/","name":"McDonald's Looks to Improve the Drive-Thru Window"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"McDonald's Serves Breakfast All Day Now (Minus Hash Browns)","description":"McDonald's will serve breakfast all day beginning Oct. 6. 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