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Leverage Social Media and Local Influencers Social media and local influencers are invaluable tools for building connections and expanding your restaurant’s reach. We’ve seen firsthand how social media generates buzz—especially when our famous customers get involved.
Omnichannel communications and value-oriented customer expectations are two elements challenging restaurant owners and operators, according to a survey from Klaviyo. Restaurateurs should monetize word-of-mouth recommendations through referral programs and social media contests.
As digital transactions become ubiquitous, businesses across all sectors are embracing innovations that reshape the way they interact with customers. The simplicity and convenience of these payment methods will boost customer satisfaction and increase revenue by reducing checkout hesitation and encouraging higher spending.
With so many people leaving the industry, restaurants stepped up—raising wages, creating new opportunities, and doubling down on the employee experience. Similarly, AI-driven thermostats will optimize indoor climates, enhancing the comfort of both staff and customers while balancing energy usage.
More than eight in ten restaurant operators expect 2025 sales to meet or exceed 2024 levels, but rising competition will require differentiation through experience, service, and innovation, according to The National Restaurant Association’s 2025 State of the Restaurant Industry report.
Many restaurant operators have misconceptions about average order volume (AOV) and how it works, making statements like: I need more customers to make more money. In fact, boosting AOV is one of the easiest and most effective ways to increase revenue while improving the customerexperience for your guests.
At a time when the competition for the guest dollar and loyalty is fierce, it's a challenge to stand out. How can a brand develop a loyaltyprogram that is relevant for a variety of guests? What are the best practices for building a new loyaltyprogram?
These metrics give you a clear picture of your delivery performancefrom order volume and customer retention to delivery speed and profitability. This might seem like a small detail, but it plays a big role in the overall delivery experience and significantly impacts customerexperience. What Impacts Order Volume?
From improving your Google listing to leveraging customer reviews, these tips will show you how to boost your visibility and drive more traffic to your restaurant. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, you could be losing out on potential customers. This way, you won’t need to code your site from scratch.
Regular customers make up the backbone of any restaurants sales , but if you put a group of restaurant owners around a table, the conversation inevitably focuses on growth through new customer acquisition. But first, why is customer retention such a big deal? Sales: 80% of sales typically come from 20% of clients. Thats huge!
But getting customers to order once isnt enough. With competition increasing and third-party apps controlling customer relationships, building loyalty requires a smarter approach. Customers now expect restaurants to offer takeout, and those that do it well can turn it into a powerful driver for long-term success.
Understanding your target market is the foundation of making smart decisions for your menu, pricing, and overall guest experience. Key customer factors that influence dining preferences, from demographics to behavior. A restaurant target market is the specific group of customers your restaurant is designed to attract.
Restaurants seeking to capture more Gen Z and millennial diners should support this fast-paced lifestyle with meaningful loyaltyprograms that save time and encourage return visits. First, Segment Your Audience Your guests want you to know their lifestyle and consumers often feel frustrated when the buying experience feels impersonal.
Youre delivering a great dining experience, yet foot traffic remains inconsistent, online engagement is low, and new customers arent coming in as often as youd like. The problem isnt your food or serviceits visibility and customer engagementand were going to help you fix that. Optimize your Google Business Profile.
How can you keep customers returning to your restaurant when so many choices exist? This stresses the need for customer retention programs. Today, customers find restaurant brands through influencers, social media, review sites, and multiple channels. With so many options, staying fresh and agile is important.
For a deeper dive into brand messaging, strategy, and authenticity, creating unified guest experiences, and the orchestration of physical and experiential touchpoints, Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine reached out to The Plaid Penguin’s Founder and Sir Idea Man Joe Haubenhofer. A strong restaurant brand goes beyond a logo.
As one of the largest generations of consumers, they continually influence the ways restaurants innovate, and there are identifiable characteristics that differentiate Gen Z consumers from their older counterparts. Then, utilizing social media to differentiate your brand and showcase your identity to customers can help your brand stand out.
The real winners of the value war will be restaurants providing value in non-monetary ways through tactics like menu innovation, hyper-personalization and providing seamless digital ordering experiences that appease convenience-driven diners. Operators must consider how they can strategically ease customers back into full price menus.
Although concerns about customer sensitivity influenced pricing decisions, only 9 percent of restaurants did not change prices in 2024, down 19 percent from 2023, indicating a stronger shift towards strategic price increases. Revenue growth in 2024 was largely driven by menu price adjustments.
Hyper-connectivity and lifestyle trends will continue to influence and alter consumer behavior. Customers will thank restaurants too, as this technology frees them of the dreaded paying experience, turning a multi-step payment process into a quick transaction that has them on their way more quickly.
Customers expect to browse menus, place orders, and pay for their meals with just a few taps of their phones. For restaurant operators, this presents both an opportunity and a challenge: how to implement an online ordering system that maximizes revenue while maintaining control over their customer relationships. billion in revenue.
And more restaurant owners are searching for ways to encourage repeat customers and successfully grow their businesses. Music can help restaurants strengthen relationships with their customers and build loyalty. It’s no surprise that music has a powerful impact on our emotions and overall satisfaction with an experience.
QSRs Shift Focus from Slow-Paced Dining to Swift, Transactional Experiences Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) are reimagining their dining spaces to prioritize speed, convenience, and personalization over traditional, slow-paced dining experiences. For the second part, click here.
Even restaurants traditionally associated with their unique dine-in experiences, such as Benihana and Fogo de Chão, now have branded delivery programs. As delivery becomes a larger part of the sales mix, brands should think about the factors that contribute to a successful delivery program. Do We Own Our Customer Data?
From sizzling dishes to a vibrant dining atmosphere, video content allows potential customers to experience the restaurants ambiance and imagine the sounds and aromas before the even set foot inside. You can encourage customers to share their dining experiences through videos to amplify your reach and credibility.
Sit-down restaurant Red Robin, meanwhile, is another example of how branding and brand personality should influence everything about a restaurant, not just the logo design. This is a great marketing opportunity, since it gives you the chance to connect on a more meaningful level and build loyalty with your diners. Color Choice Matters.
Email marketing might not be as flashy as social media marketing, but for restaurants, its possibly the most effective way to stay connected with customers. Unlike social media platforms, where the algorithm overlords dictate who will and will not see your posts, emails go straight to your customers inboxeswhich they check daily.
Data reveals that bars with happy-hour programs had an average increase in revenue of 26 percent during happy hours. So, you can attract new customers and encourage existing ones to stick around for a bit longer with happy hour promotions. By offering a discount, you'll encourage customers to order more and stay longer.
But one thing is a universal truth: Without customers at your tables you will fail. Customers come in many forms, so often the focus is on new customers, but the reality is that repeat, loyal customers are really the starting point. According to Cisco, 96 percent of customers prefer a business that offers free WiFi.
Surging prices have been top of mind for consumers for two years and counting, leaving restaurant leaders questioning how inflation might influence diners’ behavior and overall spending habits, including their usage of digital ordering and third-party delivery apps– both of which gained momentum during the pandemic.
However, there’s an opportunity to turn slow nights into "grow" nights and counter declining revenue by changing customer behavior. Although it might seem challenging, thanks to modern technology, restaurants can now understand and engage with their customers in new ways, ultimately filling up those empty tables.
The research found that businesses worldwide – particularly restaurants – intend to experiment more in 2025, especially with customer retention programs like loyalty, as they face the triple challenge of sustained high inflation, shrinking consumer wallets and the need to raise prices across the board.
So, how do you attract more customers to your restaurant in the competitive market? So, when you incorporate consumer reviews and satisfied customer testimonials into your marketing collateral, you can generate more conversions. Therefore, positive feedback on review websites builds a prospective customer’s trust.
People relish knowing they can enjoy familiar food, a consistent experience and, usually, affordable prices. One surefire way to help your restaurant stand out is to incorporate a new mover marketing program to capture new residents before they form loyalties with the competition. Treat local influencers to a meal.
By Kateryna Reshetilo, Contributor Are you a restaurant owner looking for ways to keep up with the fast-changing demands of your customers? Today, more than ever, restaurants are turning to custom-built apps to improve convenience, streamline operations, and foster customerloyalty. If so, you’re not alone.
Focus on enhancing customerexperience, which is one of the decisive factors for converting visitors into clients. Other actionable tips for better SEO and conversions are as follows: Customize product site search to streamline the process of locating the desired content. Communicate with Customers on Social Media.
“Traffic is down, but the relative increases in average check indicate that QSRs haven’t lost customer segments. Instead, we believe that quick-service restaurant customers have permanently changed their behaviors — visiting less frequently than pre-pandemic yet spending more per visit.”
In terms of trends, it is clear that in 2023 technology will continue to shape and enhance the restaurant industry and we will see operators adopting new technologies to create an even more seamless and frictionless experience for guests, while still maintaining unique and engaging dining experiences.
In this edition of MRM Research Roundup, we have news on understanding customerloyalty, beverage insights, restaurant supply loyalty, the influence of discounts, the state of payments and the evolution of gift cards. The impact of COVID-19 on customer behavior was experienced swiftly f by all industries.
Much has already been written about these changes, but our analysts suggest that the stickiness of these behaviors is a good indicator that a different kind of customer will arise out of the post-pandemic ashes. Staying nimble will allow operators to respond with value-oriented menus to meet their customers where they are.
We’re seeing massive disruption to front-of-house systems, too, delivering personalized guest experiences from order to payment to final delivery. So, for the first time, restaurant owners and marketers are able to see exactly what their customer’s buying journey looks like. Christopher Baron of RedBaron Consulting.
This is where real, hands-on experience becomes invaluable. Operational Empathy: Understand the Core One of the most significant ways my background has influenced my strategy as a COO is through operational empathy. These efforts will significantly contribute to a stronger market position and loyal customer base.
In today's fast-paced world, quick-service restaurants (QSRs) are constantly looking for ways to attract new customers while keeping their existing ones happy. By displaying menu items, offers, and specials on screens, QSR operators can effectively communicate with their customers and influence their purchasing decisions.
Is your website optimized, and does it provide a good user experience? Assume a customer discovers your website but cannot identify where you are located or how to contact you. Suppose a customer goes to a search engine like Google or Google News API and types in 'Find local restaurants near me.' Loyalty Rewards.
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