Dive Brief:

• SoundHound will supply Church’s Texas Chicken with its drive-thru voice ordering artificial intelligence technology, the companies said in a Wednesday press release.
• Consumers at Church’s drive-thrus will be able to order through the drive-thru voice box, though ordering from a human is still an option, according to the release.
• SoundHound’s tech solutions are seeing more use by national brands this year. Last week, SoundHound announced that Torchy’s Tacos would use its automated phone ordering tool across its restaurant system. 

Dive Insight:

Drive-thru voice ordering AI has business benefits for restaurants that include processing orders faster and more efficiently, reducing wait times and streamlining employee workflows, Church’s Chief Information Officer, Ahnaf Ali, said in a statement.

The technology can speed up throughput by shifting workers from taking orders to preparing food, the press release said. About 90% of orders made through SoundHound’s technology do not require human intervention, the press release claimed.

The press release stated the technology speeds up throughput by shifting labor from taking orders to preparing food.

Improvements in throughput and AI’s consistency in upselling consumers could help the brand generate more sales across its system and strengthen its position in a highly competitive, growing market niche.

James Hom, the chief product officer at SoundHound, called the deployment “a significant milestone in drive-thru innovation,” given Church’s national scale — the restaurant brand had about 900 units in the U.S. at the end of 2023, according to its franchise disclosure document, and 1,500 stores worldwide. SoundHound works with a variety of restaurant chains and tech companies in deploying its ordering software, including White Castle and Square.

Church’s deployment of voice-ordering AI is in keeping with a technological focus on consumer experience. Recently, the chain launched a digitally focused loyalty program. 

Improving operational efficiencies and cost savings are a focus for Church’s. The brand is facing a shrinking franchised store base in the U.S., according to its franchise disclosure document. It ended 2023 with 901 units compared to 1,015 units at the start of 2021. 

At the same time, KFC is suing Church’s over a marketing campaign that employed the phrase “original recipe.”