How Gift Cards Can Help Restaurants Cope with Inflation

3 Min Read By Dave Jones

Restaurants are grappling with labor shortages, supply chain disruptions and inflation. According to the National Restaurant Association, restaurants are experiencing the most severe labor shortage in history, actually 70 percent higher than most industries. As of April 2022, restaurants were still down 794,000 jobs – or 6.4 percent pre-pandemic employment levels. Additionally, employee retention is an ongoing issue for restaurants indicated by the quit rate which has grown from 4.8 to nearly seven percent in just one year.   

Inflation is also causing direct strain on the economy, impacting all decisions made in restaurants: choice of menu items, cost vs profit of each menu item, service hours, number of employees per shift, etc. Many restaurants have increased the price of certain menu items and continue to do so, unfortunately losing customers in the process. As a result, 80 percent of U.S. consumers  are dining out less often. This leaves operators in a sticky…