Fast Food And Happy Hour: Together At Last

Nevin Barich

LOS ANGELES , March 6, 2018 (Off The Menu) – Last weekend, I got a bit hungry in the middle of the day while running errands and decided to go to my local Carl’s Jr. drive-thru for a quick snack. While scanning the menu, I noticed a special offer: Double charbroiled sliders for $1 from 2-5 p.m., down from their regular price of $1.50.

I looked down on my phone: 2:27 p.m.

I was officially at Carl’s Jr. during Happy Hour.

This is a trend that’s slowly starting to pop up more often at major fast-food chains. Taco Bell, for example, offers medium soft drinks and other specialty beverages for $1 from 2-5 p.m., while Sonic offers 50% off its drinks and slushes from 2-4 p.m.

So why are these fast food chains doing this? For the same reasons that casual restaurants offer Happy Hour specials. Among those reasons:

Increasing Traffic During Slow Periods

What are a casual restaurant’s busiest time periods? Breakfast (if it’s open in the early morning), lunch and dinner. What’s a slow period? The early and mid-afternoon. A fast food restaurant is no exception. The time period of 2-5 p.m. isn’t a busy time for any quick service chain, so it makes sense to offer special deals during that time to drive traffic.

You Can’t Buy Just One

A couple of months ago, I went through the drive thru at Taco Bell around 3 p.m. and got a medium Diet Pepsi for the Happy Hour price of $1. But while my intention was to purchase only the soda, once I started staring at the menu the thought of a couple of savory food items with my soda entered my head. So I also added a bean burrito and soft taco to my order. The point being: Using Happy Hour prices to get people in the building is only part of the equation. Another part is a Happy Hour menu priced low enough to entice you to order more than one thing.

Trying New Things

Carl’s Jr. offering a special Happy Hour price for its Double charbroiled sliders was no accident. What’s the best way to get people to try a new menu item? A low price point! Happy Hour is the perfect time to offer such a price.

Nevin Barich is the Food and Beverage Analyst for Industry Intelligence, which can help YOU better address your own industry challenges. We invite you to come take a look at our service. Call us today at 310-553-0008 and we’ll schedule you for a 15-minute demo.

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