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In 2022, with the introduction of ChatGPT, we saw restaurants – and just about everyother industry – look for ways to incorporate artificial intelligence within their customer operations. In 2025, I believe we’ll see the smart restaurant brands get very focused on how they leverage AI to improve the customer experience.
“This enduring customer loyalty drives the restaurant industry forward, creating clear opportunities for restaurants to enhance the dining experience through strategic limited time offers, efficient delivery and exceptional in-person service," said Samir Zabaneh, CEO of TouchBistro.
Omnichannel communications and value-oriented customer expectations are two elements challenging restaurant owners and operators, according to a survey from Klaviyo. ” Multiple elements impact whether a potential customer actually follows through with a visit and if satisfied guests will return. ”
Rising restaurant prices and increased cost-of-living expenses are significantly altering dining out habits in both the US and UK, according to a new survey from Attest. Among the key findings affecting restaurants: Price Sensitivity : 86 percent of consumers in both the US and UK feel restaurant prices are higher than last year.
This represents a larger increase than those increasing visits to fast-casual (14 percent) or full-service (11 percent) restaurants and is on par with those visiting QSRs more frequently (24 percent) ( RMS Q1 2025 Dining report ). That means restaurants are losing more than just the occasional diner; they're losing their core customers.
"Restaurants thinking about implementing surge pricing need to balance the revenue upside with the potential brand backlash," says Savneet Singh, CEO of PAR Technology. "While ’" Is it possible for restaurants to have the best of both worlds and maximize revenue and still capture customer loyalty?
Dynamic pricing would add friction to the guest experience, according to Capterra’s 2023 Dynamic Pricing in Restaurants. Sixty-five percent of consumers say dynamic pricing would make the decision of where and when to eat more difficult; 63 percent say it would make it harder to budget their restaurant spending.
Eighty-one percent of diners said they would either stop going to a restaurant altogether or alter their dining hours to avoid prices surging during peak hours and 64 percent said they have a negative reaction to restaurants using surge and dynamic pricing, according to a HungerRush’s National Restaurant Price Surging Survey.
Due to many factors including inflation and supply chain challenges, restaurant owners and operators have been faced with tough choice about raising menu prices. As food prices rise, restaurants should try to stay within their target ratio for food cost to gross food revenue in order to maintain target profits.
. "Value is a broader tent than price, but price is an important value platform when consumers are faced with high inflation or a personal economic situation such as a job loss," Tim Fires, president of global foodservice at Circana, told Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine. "We
This “tipflation” phenomenon is leading to lower gratuity rates, even at full-service restaurants. Gen Z, in particular, is rejecting tipping culture, seeing it as a forced surcharge rather than a reward for great service. They have to balance keeping customers happy while making sure their staff gets paid fairly.
With nearly every organization today adopting digital transformation strategies, many companies are focusing on providing more digital solutions to customers. The primary focus of the websites is having what you need, at a good price. In many cases, they’ve basically taken people out of the equation almost entirely.
Coffee roasters around the world are struggling to navigate the rising tide of costs without losing loyal customers. Prices for green coffee have surged, operational expenses continue to climb, and economic pressures show no sign of easing. At the same time, coffee consumers are growing more price-sensitive.
This ideally reinforces the connection in the customer’s brain between their everyday choices and the resulting impacts on the environment: “You’ve saved so many gallons of water, you’ve saved so many square meters of land and emissions and energy,” as Goldman says. Congratulations. without interruptions. So he took action.
More than half (54 percent) of independent restaurant owners report making half as much or less than this same time last year, according to a report from Alignable with 51 percent saying customer spending is “much lower” than 2024. Tariffs, attracting new customers, and inflation top the list of concerns.
In the food service industry, branded apparel is a critical extension of your business's identity. The uniforms worn by staff, from kitchen to counter, represent your brand in every customer interaction, making apparel a strategic business decision rather than merely an operational requirement.
After all, it’s not just the quality of your food that can keep customers coming back — 73% of diners base their satisfaction on the quality of service they receive. How do you communicate restaurant policies and changes to your employees effectively? How do you handle disputes between customers and employees?
As a restaurant manager or operator, you are the driving force in productivity – leading your staff and keeping customers happy. There will always be a customer on the receiving end of that waste of time. On the other end of that spectrum, 91% of customers who are unhappy with your service will not do business with you again.
All that said, bringing a brand to life requires a partnership with open lines of communication. There’s also a bigger focus today on guest engagement and community than ever before. Restaurant brands are now expected to build authentic relationships with guests, which requires transparency and two-way communication.
One of those costs is with partnering services, with many food service operators relying on purchasing groups to help them make category-specific strategic purchases. There are many areas where we have seen food service operators benefit! This makes business tight causing a hard look at any extra costs.
Using the off-season to plan and improve your business product or service offerings can help you flourish during the busy season. Explore areas where you can purchase supplies in bulk to cut long-term costs, consider raising prices where it makes sense, and work to improve discounts and payment terms with your suppliers.
Every day, youre juggling staff, food quality, inventory, customerservice, purchasing, and moreall while trying to cultivate a dining experience that wows your customers enough to keep them coming back. CustomerService and Experience Great food and drink is only truly enjoyed when its coupled with a great service experience.
. – Sophia Goldberg, Founder and CEO, Ansa The big lesson I learned is that I've had to continue to adapt my pricing, because people are still watching their spending. That's why we instituted lower-priced lunch specials and made other adjustments. Technology continues to transform restaurant operations.
Around the world, headlines are warning consumers that a sharp increase in coffee shop prices is a real possibility. However, this narrative oversimplifies the complex web of operational costs that shape retail prices in the coffee sector. You may also like our article on how much coffee shops should raise their prices.
Again, turn to the National Restaurant Association for guidance. [] PRICING YOUR MENU BY COMPARISON. More often than not – the success of your restaurant begins with effective menu planning, proper pricing, and consistent execution. Every business requires controls in pricing, consistency, quality, and cash handling.
Restaurants are making use of workflow automation to increase efficiency in numerous ways inlcuding customerservice automation and sales and marketing automation. Automating customerservice tasks helps to improve the customer experience. Improving customerservice. Improved communication.
What was once a gradual process turned into a rapid transformation, permanently reshaping how restaurants operate and interact with customers. Customers have now fully embraced the benefits of using restaurant technology, and to keep up with guests evolving expectations, the tech industry is growing at an incredible rate.
Restaurants collect a ton of customer data. Think about it: What if you could automatically send a special offer to a customer who hasnt ordered in a while? When used strategically, customer data can help you personalize marketing, streamline operations, and create a better dining experience for your guests.
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 customer experience. What Impacts Order Volume?
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images According to a new study, grocery stores could keep more food out of landfills, increase profits, and pad customers’ pockets by adopting a practice widely used by airlines, hotels, and other industries This story was originally published on Civil Eats. The price is changing throughout the [time] horizon.”
Many brands have been experimenting with new technology to help reduce the demand for labor and combat recent price inflation. According to the National Restaurant Association , 62 percent of operators say their restaurant needs more employees to support customer demand. Thus, automation of product updates was essential.
Recent reports of possible portion-size discrepancies at Chipotle are a cautionary tale for brands, highlighting a few critical issues in the restaurant industry: consistently meeting customer expectations and the swift power of social media. What are some best practices brands need to put in place to maintain consistency throughout stores?
Customers are going to be hesitant to dine indoors. By providing a safe, pleasant and healthy indoor dining experience, and promoting and marketing it to your new and past customers, restaurants can help to hasten the return of customers and keep everyone safe. Ultimately no experience equals no customers.
Understaffing can turn customers away when they’re frustrated by long wait times or poor service, and over staffing will instantly eat into your profitability. This builds their loyalty to the company, but also improves the service and efficiency in your organization and reduces costs by reducing turnover.
These challenges are impacting menu availability, raising the prices of menu items, leading to short staffs, increasing wait times for diners, and changing operating hours and offerings. Restaurants that spent much of the last year trying to win back customers, are now struggling to win back employees.
They play a big role in overseeing your inventory and attending to customer complaints. How do you make sure staff adhere to responsible alcohol service standards? What would you do if a customer claims they were overcharged? How would you handle a conflict between a bar staff and a customer? what did you do?
Save your customers a trip to grocery store, sell off inventory, increase cash flow, and attract new customers during COVID-19. Communicate. Set up a clear line of communication for your customers to order grocery items. Add notifications on your website, delivery service sites, and social media platforms.
If your business isnt keeping up with the changes, you risk falling behind and not meeting modern customer expectations. For operators, restaurant apps mean higher sales, greater customer retention, and smoother day-to-day operations. Online ordering and delivery apps. Here is an example of a restaurants branded app.
While it’s certainly possible to work with an agent who’s either a friend or family member, it may be advisable to look for an agent who has specialized knowledge in the food service industry and the unique risks and challenges that come with it. What Carriers Do You Represent that Specialize in the Food-Service Industry?
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. Read the first part, here. For the second part, click here.
Shares of major quick-service restaurant (QSR) brands experienced double-digit drops, consumer confidence declined, and traffic at fast-food restaurants was down by 2.1 percent YOY) and throughout 2024 were primarily due to price increases, which have surged nearly 50 percent in some segments since the pre-pandemic era and were still up 3.0
Here are a few ideas for restaurant and bar owners to consider in an effort to continue to serve up good eats and top-tier service during the winter season. Keep Customers Informed on Social Media. It is key for restaurant and bars to use social media to communicate with their customers.
In this article, well show you how to consolidate your delivery apps into one system so you can end tablet chaos, improve takeout operation, and ensure customers get their food fast, hot, and, most importantly, accurate. Without a centralized way to manage orders, mistakes pile up quickly, causing headaches for both staff and customers.
But precisely, how can you determine what customers want? Businesses must remain ahead of the curve by checking all the correct boxes as customer tastes evolve at an unparalleled pace. Convenience: Simplified Dining Experiences Convenience is really what modern customers look for in a restaurant experience.
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