Colin McMahon is the chief operating officer of StartupNation Media Group. He is a respected international journalist, innovative news executive and media consultant. Formerly editor-in-chief of Chicago Tribune and chief content officer of Tribune Publishing, Colin now focuses on innovation, entrepreneurship and digital media development.
Whether you are in the restaurant game or maybe considering it—or even if you are just someone like us at StartupNation who likes to eat—a new study delivers intriguing data about how Americans are dining out these days.
Using surveys and mobile phone location data, the data and intelligence platform Near put together a list of the top three trends in quick-service restaurants over the last couple of years.
The findings offer keen insight to restaurant entrepreneurs or those looking for franchise opportunities.
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Takeout and delivery are here to stay.
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Loyalty programs are more important than ever.
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Generational differences are becoming more stark.
The good news for the industry is that people are dining out again, almost as much today as before the COVID-19 pandemic: 9.1 times per month now, compared with 9.7 times pre-pandemic, per survey results.
And what are these diners looking for?
Well, takeout and delivery, not surprisingly. People now expect those services to be widely available.
But if customers are planning to dine in, they now expect more from that experience, according to the Near study.
Dining out has become more of an either/or. Either it’s fast and convenient, with multiple choices, or it’s more of an experience, with fuller service, more ambience and “other personalized, human touches.”
Some restaurants are successfully adapting to the trends, the report observed. They are investing in loyalty programs, in digital tech like mobile apps, and in footprints that trade out indoor space for more outdoor space and reorganize foot traffic for more efficient pickup and delivery.
The report calls out Chick-fil-A, among others, as being especially successful in beating the competition by combining “a positive dine-in experience with high-touch drive-thrus and a first-class mobile app ordering system.”
As for the generational divides, they are widening:
- Diners over 44 value a traditional wait-staff experience by a far larger margin (83%) than do diners aged 18-44 (59%)
- Younger diners are more receptive to the QR code/kiosk ordering system than are older diners, though not many people in any age group report really liking the experience
- A restaurant’s presence on a delivery app matters more to younger than older diners
- And restaurant loyalty programs are much more important to younger customers, who enroll in 4 loyalty programs on average.
“There is no longer one single dining experience,” the report concludes. “The most successful restaurants of the past few years are simply the ones that know their customers the best.”
