Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Michael Gallo with C.L. King. Please proceed.
Michael Gallo - C.L. King
Good morning and congratulations on an excellent quarter. My question is just around the drive-thru speed of service initiative. It sounds like you've gotten rolled out now on the drive-thru timers.
I was wondering one if that had any impact in the quarter in terms of seeing improved throughput times whether it was simply too new to have any impact. When you expect to start to see some impact from that and any better feel for in units now that had it for several months. What kind of improvement you're seeing in just overall throughput and what effects you're seeing on comps for that?
Cheryl Bachelder
I’d say the first step, as I indicated, is getting everyone prepared with the proper equipment in place. We're now getting the training in place and the blocking and tackling reporting. So, you can track and reward and incentivise people around it.
So, I would say, Mike, it had a minimal impact on our second quarter results, and I would expect it to have increasing impact in the back, towards the latter end of this year, but I can tell you that our stores were lit up in the second quarter, and our speed of service ratings improved three points over the first quarter. So, I think attention to speed of service is already having a natural positive effect on our business.
Michael Gallo - C.L. King
Okay, great. One of the things, I don't think you broke it out, but you indicated it was mostly transactions that drove the comps in the quarter. Was there any pricing in the menu or menu shift that?
Cheryl Bachelder
It was primarily driven by customer counts.
Michael Gallo - C.L. King
Okay, great and then just final question. Obviously as we head to the back half of the year here, certainly July, it looked like it was another very tough month for the industry. Have you been able to maintain the momentum that you came through the second quarter with? Or you know, obviously the guidance implies, you're not going to be able to maintain that in the second half. Is that just some conservatism given a weak environment or just something you're seeing beyond that?
Cheryl Bachelder
Mike, yesterday I was looking at consumer confidence, spendings, savings rates, all those economic measures for July and August, and as you know, they're not very strong. So, I think everyone in the restaurant industry will be taking that into account. I'm not going to speak or guide to our performance in July or August, other than to say the marketplace continues to be a very value-focused environment.
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