Market Statistics
The 2019 Restaurant Industry Factbook of National Restaurant Association shows a very interesting piece of information. It says that the projected sales of restaurant industry will hit a whopping $863 billion this year. With this number alone, it’s safe to assume that the industry is growing. Booming for the most part, in fact. There are currently over a million restaurants in the US and more are expected to come. Especially due to the fact that Americans spend 51% of their food budget on restaurants. Compared to 25% in 1955, this year is definitely a better time for the food industry.
- 52% of the consumers prefer to spend money on an experience, such as a restaurant. Hence, they’d rather go out and eat than purchasing a new item.
- 4% – The part of 2019 US gross domestic product that comes from the restaurant industry.
- 4.9% – The projected growth rate of limited-service restaurants in 2019
- 3.3% – The projected growth rate of table-service restaurants in 2019
- 16.9 million – the number of employment that restaurants would generate by 2029.
- 60% of adults have worked in the restaurant industry at some point during their lives.
- 33% of Americans got their first job experience in a restaurant.
Restaurant Technology Statistics
- 95% of restaurant owners observed an increase in their business efficiency by embedding technology in their process.
- 73% of guests believe that technology adds more to their dining experience.
- 80% of restaurants are utilizing various types of technologies to aid them in running their business more efficiently. Examples of such include tools for online reservations, ordering, inventory and analytics.
- 52% of online traffic worldwide was produced through mobile phones.
- 18 million adults in the US will be using a grocery app this year.
- 41% of restaurants use handheld server tablets currently or will in the future.
- 68% of customers note that the use of server tablets improve their restaurant experience.
- 44% of consumers say they used a restaurant website or app to place a food order. This is true for both delivery and takeout food during the past year.
Features of apps and devices
- 76% of restaurant owners are looking for labor management features in a restaurant POS.
- 45% of consumers use an online ordering service more often if it offers mobile ordering or loyalty programs.
- 65% of diners prefer to have control on the amount of the tips they give. Thus, a flexible tipping feature is more desired than tip-free movement or auto-gratuities.
- 54% of guests say that online reservation is the most important technology feature. Likewise, 41% say it’s free Wi-Fi.
Features that customer and restaurant owners want in a restaurant app
- 64%Gift Cards Program
- 56%Online Ordering
- 50%Email Automation
- 40%Online Reservations
Economy Statistics
- 90% of consumers say that going to restaurants is enjoyable.
- 75% of consumers feel like dining out with family or friends on their leisure time, as opposed to cooking their own food and cleaning afterwards.
- 45% of diners go out at least twice a week to eat and once a week for 20% of consumers.
- 40% of consumers treat restaurants as part of their lifestyle.
- 12.6% of an American’s income is used on food. And of those, 48% goes to restaurants.
- Most restaurants will not see a profits until they reach their second year of operation.
- 3% – 5% profit margins are what most restaurants gain.
- 91% of restaurant owners expect revenue to increase in 2019.
Industry Challenge Statistics
- 52% of restaurateurs point to the high costs of operation and food as their top challenges.
- 51% of restaurant owners name staffing as their biggest challenge to success.
- 35% of restaurant operators say that training staff is their greatest issue.
- 31% of restaurateurs say that retaining their staff is their biggest problem.
- 1 month and 26 days – The average tenure of restaurant workers.
- 37% of the members of National Restaurant Association report shortage of workers.
- 30% of restaurateurs cite staffing as a challenge.
- $2000 – The cost of hiring and training a new staff member. For a new manager, it’s $15000 .
Online Marketing Statistics
- 90% of guests make research a restaurant online before actually going there. This is a practice done more in this business type compared to others.
- 12.5% of diners will post a review about the restaurant after their meal.
- 75% of consumers will not visit a restaurant whose cleanliness reviews are negative.
- 33% of diners won’t eat in restaurants whose online rating is lower than 4-stars in review sites. Examples of which include Yelp, TripAdvisor and Google.
- 56% of franchise restauranteurs think that reviews are more important influencers of traffic. Thus, valuing them more than traditional advertising.
- 92% of diners read restaurant reviews.
- 77% of consumers look up more on peer reviews compared to critic reviews.
Social Media
Online reviews on sites like Yelp are good ways to promote your business. It’s also a good motivation for ensuring high quality standards. Because you don’t want the public to see negative reviews about your establishment. You’ll need to use a powerful platform that truly make use of the internet: social media. According to Brandwatch, there are 3.03 billion active users on social media.
- 91% of retail brands have 2 or more channels on social media.
- 71% of customers are more likely to recommend a company that quickly replies on their social media messages.
- 67% of restaurants are planning to use social media advertisement in 2019.
- 20% – 40% – The likelihood that customers will spend time in restaurants that they have engaged on social media.
- 72% use Facebook in making retail or restaurant decisions. This is through the images and comments shared by other users.
- Restaurant diners are more likely to leave high ratings on Facebook compared to other review sites.
- 92% of restaurants are using Facebook for social media branding and marketing.
- 32% – The share of food and drinks on all brand mentions in Twitter. This is the highest compared to other industries (17% for clothing and 11% for technology).
- 52% of guests said that they visited a restaurant because of promotional offers and discounts found on twitter.
- 260 million+ Instagram posts uses the hashtag #food.
- 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business. This can translate into engagement because of the platform’s 2.2% per-follower interaction rate.
- 21.4 – The engagement ratio of fast food brands on Instagram.
- 18.4 – The engagement ratio of full-service restaurants on Instagram.
Food Orders Statistics
Restaurants have lots of variants, atmospheres and uniqueness in them. But one thing remains the same, your customers are mainly there for your food. Thus, most of your efforts must be exerted on the type and quality of food your establishment serves.
- 61% of consumers pick healthier foods at restaurants compared to their choices two years ago.
- 55% of consumers say they’re more likely to order breakfast items if they’re available all day long.
- 41% of diners would buy meal kits to prepare at home if the restaurants they frequent offer them.
- 149% – The increase in the number of orders of fermented foods in the Upserve customer menus.
- 67% – of consumers said that their favorite flavors are those that they can’t duplicate at home.
- 72% of diners visit a particular restaurant because of their high food quality. Only 48% said value was their main motivation.
Top Factors that make customers choose a restaurant in 2019
- Availability of locally-sourced food 62%
- Discount offered for dining at off-peak hours 56%
- Walking distance from home 56%
- Availability of environment-friendly food 51%
- Reward and customer loyalty program 50%
- Tableside electronic ordering and payment options 26%
Millennials Preference Statistics
Why bother with this certain demography of people? That’s because millennials have finally surpassed the baby boomers in terms of buying power. This generation is projected to become the largest part of the American demographic in 2019. 54% of them go out at least thrice a week to eat according to usatoday.com. So marketing to them should increase your bottom line.
- 79 % of millennials enjoy experimenting with products from various countries or cultures.
- 78% of millennials say they would rather spend money on experience, such as a restaurant. That’s in opposition to purchasing items from store.
- 54% of millennials believe that self-ordering kiosks provide better guest experience.
- 99% – The likelihood that millennials and Gen Zers are going to rely on online reviews and social media. That’s in comparison to Baby Boomers and Gen X.
- 53% of millennials look for new experiences when picking a place to eat.
Payment Statistics
- 62% of guests use debit or credit cards when paying for low-ticket items, such as coffee.
- 88% of guests use their cards when paying for high-ticket items like fancy dinner.
- 49% of restaurant operators thinks that mobile payment option is a must-have technology for diners.
- 31% of restaurants use mobile payment option.
Order Delivery Statistics
- 60% of US consumers order food either for takeout or delivery at least once a week.
- 70% of consumers say they’d prefer to order from restaurants directly. Instead of having some of the fee go to third-party apps.
- 63% of consumers find food delivery to be more convenient than going out with the family to dine.
- 38% of customers are more likely to order restaurant food for delivery than they would have two years ago.
- 60% of restaurant owners said that delivery has produced incremental sales.
