Restaurant trend report finds consumers trading down, dining out less - Produce Blue Book (2024)
- General News, Press Release
SAN ANTONIO,May 2, 2024/PRNewswire/ —Around 50 billion hamburgers are consumed a year in the U.S.,1presenting a big opportunity for restaurants to reach consumers’ hearts through their stomachs at a reasonable price point. Research fromVericast shows 60% of consumers surveyed will ‘trade down’ from a casual dining restaurant to fast food for less expensive burger prices.
According to Vericast’s2024 Restaurant TrendWatchreport, the same goes for other fan favorites – pizza and tacos – with 55% of respondents switching to frozen pizza from the grocery store versus pizza from a restaurant, and 55% opting to get fast food tacos instead of fast casual dining. Notably, 67% say the increased costs are making restaurant dining too expensive. The uptick from 64% last year shows cost concerns are still climbing.
While both grocery and restaurant prices continue to rise even as inflation slows, restaurant prices are climbing at a much higher rate than groceries – 5.1% annually versus 1.2%.2Sixty-eight percent of respondents are trading down from restaurant meals to food from the grocery store to avoid the rising costs, with more than 71% of GenZ and millennials doing so.
“The steadily increasing cost of dining out is testing the limits of what consumers can and will spend,” saidDana Baggett, executive director, Restaurant Division at Vericast. “There’s a noticeable decrease in consumers dining out, especially with consumers that have a household income under$75,000. Many diners are choosing to dine out less, trade down to less expensive restaurants, order less or opt to eat out for more affordable mealtimes like breakfast or snacks. As consumers are intentionally spending less at restaurants, acquiring new guests should be a key area of focus for restaurant brands. With the intensifying competition for share of stomach, I anticipate acquisition strategies such as offering deals and coupons to increase, as this is the fastest way to drive incremental sales and traffic.”
Other key findings and insights from the survey include:
Deals! Deals! Deals!With the cost of food and groceries continuing to rise and restaurant prices also increasing, consumers are looking at special deals when choosing to dine out. Restaurant discounts and coupons remain important for consumers.
51% of respondents say a coupon or discount entices them to try a restaurant and 49% say deals help them choose between restaurants.
Due to rising prices, 30% say they won’t try a restaurant without a coupon or discount offer.
42% will order from restaurants more often if they have a print coupon or are being offered a discount.
When asked what helped them decide where to dine in the past 30 days, 25% said a discount on a restaurant app and 23% said a print ad with coupons.
When fast food customers have a coupon/discount, about half (49%) will spend more by upgrading items or ordering more.
The Digital Influence on Dining Decisions.Consumers are increasingly on social media and mobile apps, so using these channels to reach diners, capture their attention, and drive them to action is more important than ever.
Inspired by recipes and videos they are seeing on social media, 39% of consumers are opting to do more home-cooked meals.
TikTok is especially prevalent, with 29% saying they get inspired to make restaurant copycat meals at home after seeing cooking videos on the app.
25% of diners, especially among Gen Z, parents, and people dining out at least once a week or more, are attracted to a restaurant through dining apps.
52% have two or more restaurant apps on their mobile phone and 34% say they have three or more.
To learn more about how the rising cost of restaurant meals impacts consumer spending and how restaurants can optimize marketing campaigns to bring more value to diners, read the2024 Restaurant TrendWatchreport.
About Vericast Vericastis a marketing technology company that provides a data-rich approach to influence consumers and drive meaningful commerce. We power smarter activations for more than 15,000 clients in consumer packaged goods, financial, grocery, restaurant, retail, and more. Our decades of experience, advanced technologies, and broad solutions portfolio help companies reach audiences with precision and scale.
According to a 2024 Popmenu study, families spend 10% less of their food budget on restaurants than they did in 2022. A year before the Popmenu study, a National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association survey found that four out of five people eat at home for more than half their meals.
A food services business surveyed by ISM said “sales and traffic remain soft compared to last year,” blaming “high gas prices in California and constant news about inflation and restaurant menu prices.” Spending at restaurants and bars declined 0.4% in May, according to the latest Commerce Department figures on retail ...
Many restaurants struggled to survive the tight restrictions placed due to the pandemic, which forced many business owners to shut their doors to consumers, and those that did keep their restaurant open during this time found their revenue decline. The California Restaurant Association has urged Gov.
What are the factors influencing customers' restaurant choices? People are influenced by word-of-mouth recommendations, online reviews, a brand's reputation, menu options, and pricing. Once you get them in the door, an emotional connection and the experience keeps them coming back.
“When basic costs like housing and healthcare consistently rise, flexibility in monthly spending shrinks. Between higher grocery bills and additional babysitting to eat somewhere other than home, dining-out expenses mount quickly.”
According to survey results, half of Americans spend less than $20 per person when dining out. How much do Americans spend dining out every month? Over the course of the month, US Foods found Americans spend an average of $166 per person going out to eat.
They also suggest that the pandemic decreased the average tip percentage for face-to-face transactions at full-service restaurants but only by a modest 1 to 2 percentage points.
Due to the lockdowns and rigid restrictions on food service operations due to COVID-19, countless food service employees have been laid off or furloughed or have experienced a reduced number of working hours. In fact, the food service industry has been one of the hardest hits in the economy by the pandemic [33].
On average, we show the recessionary effects of COVID-19 are likely to increase the growth of food-at-home sales by 1 percent and decrease the growth of food-away-from-home sales by 0.9 percent.
Here are the top trends in the restaurant industry for 2024: Consumers will continue to prioritize their resources in the face of macroeconomic factors. Consumers and brands will align on the importance of loyalty and personalization. Restaurants will look to increase reach across digital channels.
“Overall, dining at this restaurant was a delight from start to finish.The delicious food, impeccable service, and charming ambiance made for a memorable experience.” “My experience at this restaurant was nothing short of exceptional.
One of them shows that the average American eats out five to six times a week. Another survey by SWNS Media Group reports that the average American spends over $2,500 a year eating out. Overall, Americans spend about $70.1 billion eating out every month.
He said consumer spending is doing better than many CEOs and market watchers expected by now. “You can call that a slowdown if you want,” he said. “It's probably the economy is normalizing out after, I'd say three to four years of historic volatility, especially since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.”
A Wells Fargo survey earlier this year found that up to two-thirds of respondents cut spending — and more than 60% said they had little left for "extras" after paying their monthly bills.
Introduction: My name is Lakeisha Bayer VM, I am a brainy, kind, enchanting, healthy, lovely, clean, witty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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