Customer Trends

Trend 7: Customers Reset Mealtime Clocks
Trend 8: The Big Experience of Dining Out
Trend 9: Tech Tools Bump Up Customer Service

_{TREND 7}

Customers Reset Mealtime Clocks

Timing of breakfast, lunch, and dinner dayparts gets a reset as diners adapt to flexible work-from-home schedules.

Why it matters
For many foodservice operations, peak business times have undergone significant shifts. It may be time to adjust “Open for Business” signs and follow the road to increased traffic.

If meals once followed standard breakfast-lunch-and-dinner sequencing, that rhythm now is more free-ranging and fluid. Relaxed schedules, hybrid workweeks, and shifting behaviors create new opportunities as consumers indulge in the freedom of less time-bound days. Brunch has moved from weekends only to daily; working lunches often have socializing on the agenda; late lunches become early cocktail gatherings; and dinnertime starts earlier, this late-afternoon iteration now without “early-bird” baggage.

Data from Yelp indicates that 10% of restaurant customers are seated between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., a time slot that historically was more bust than boom. Dinner parties starting at 5 p.m. also happen more frequently. Power lunches, especially in business districts, are less common amid more relaxed ways of doing business.

Of these all-day opportunities, operators say if it improves cash flow, do it. Tapping restaurant technology is a good start point: Review traffic counts from the POS system to identify ebbs, flows, upsides, and opportunities. Some possibilities:

Longer weekday breakfast hours that segue into brunch, the menu adjusted for both meals
Stay open between lunch and dinner
To the extent possible, focus less on table turns; operators note that even business meals tend to be slower paced and more social
Especially in areas with less nighttime activity, earlier dinner openings and closings

RESETTING THE CLOCK
Uber trips to restaurants in the 4 p.m. hour have increased almost 10% since 2019 while those after 8 p.m. have fallen 9%.

NEXT UP: The Big Experience of Dining Out

_{TREND 8}

The Big Experience of Dining Out

Consumer loyalty is less about mass marketing and more about building, nurturing, and cultivating relationships through food-centric experiences large and small.

Why it matters
How consumers interact with restaurants and the depth of their connection to them are foundational to their future loyalty, word-of-mouth recommendations, reviews, and even social media posts.

The food, the service: that is the experience.

Michelle Korsmo, President and CEO, National Restaurant Association

Take it as a sign that more companies have CXOs. That’s chief experience officer, and whether it’s an actual job or a value seen throughout the company, memorable experiences are increasingly important as consumers seek affinity with favored brands. From websites to menus, social media, reservation systems, hosts, servers, and bartenders, each touchpoint has power shaped customers’ impressions and increased intentions to return.

In a recent report, the National Restaurant Association said 84% of consumers want restaurant experiences. Great food, service, and value proposition are solid start points. Other ways to add dimension to the loyalty-winning ‘wow’ factor:

Themed dinners convey intimacy and community. They can center on wines, guest chefs, holidays, and local events, or include cooking or mixology lessons. Entertainment, immersive experiences, and enhanced reality are also showing up
Tableside service lets diners participate and fine-tune menu items. Extra jalapeños in the guac, salad with no anchovies, more whipped cream on the cherries jubilee? Just say the word

Flights of wine, coffee, and desserts become learning experiences shared by diners with the server and amongst each other
Posting photos on social media can be irresistible for guests and powerful marketing for operators. Eye-candy settings make it easy. Insider tip: include the restaurant name in the design to ensure credit

NEXT UP: Tech Tools Bump Up Customer Service

_{TREND 9}

Tech Tools Bump Up Customer Service

On the hunt for restaurant technology that improves and enhances customer service, operators say they’re ready, set, to buy the right stuff.

What it means
Tech solutions, long seen as indispensable linchpins for back of the house and for management, are reaching further and applying their operational strengths to customer-facing uses. Sure, personalized food and service remain the industry’s solid cornerstones but technology is the turbo-charged wizard that’s driving the machine.

Get with the program! Tech tools that boost access, accuracy, speed, and personalization aren’t just embraced, but demanded by patrons, nearly 30% of whom are under age 35, digitally advanced, and completely accepting of the latest service-oriented gadgets. Looking ahead to the coming year, here are key areas of focus for restaurant technology.

The convenience of contactless ordering and payment systems resides in the hearts and minds of customers, granting them a permanent place in operations, especially QSRs, fast casuals, and colleges. In fact, 56% of customers prefer online ordering. With 92.3% of users accessing the internet mobily and nearly 57% of website traffic from mobile devices, intuitive and accurate interfaces are essential

Improvements in kiosk ordering systems shorten lines, increase service speed, and often bump up check averages

Vending machines for the modern era and robotics that run entire coffee shops are making moves into colleges, healthcare, and B&I, allowing quality offerings on 24/7 schedules with no staffing requirements

With a significant percentage of business coming from drive-thrus, look for tech-enabled ways to improve accuracy and “intuit” moods, behaviors, and ordering patterns

New uses for artificial intelligence (AI) will emerge at lightning speed. Initial forays: high-efficiency, bilingual order taker on phones and in drive-thrus, data crunching, forecasts, marketing, operational optimization, even predicting trends

58%

Amount of operators who say that use of tech and automation to ease labor shortages and improve service will continue although these tech solutions are seen as complementary partners to human capital. The chief goal is to enhance and assist rather than replace staff.

_{^{Sources–Trend 7:}}_{^{Brunch Is Now an Event Seven Days a Week (May 24, 2023) wsj.com; America Is Becoming a Nation of Early Birds (July 19, 2023) wsj.com.}}_{^{Trend 8:}}_{^{The Hill: The Economic Snapshot with Bob Cusack. YouTube (May 2023); 2023 State of the Restaurant Industry (February 23, 2023 restaurant.org).}}_{^{Trend 9:}}_{^{United States Demographic Statistics (May 16, 2021); Top Restaurant Technology Trends (April 26, 2023); Internet Traffic From Mobile Devices (July 4, 2023); A New Normal Takes Hold (February 28, 2023).}}

CONCLUSION
With cheerful efficiency, a happy bias to hospitality, and unwavering devotion to excellence, the foodservice industry does many things extremely well. It serves countless guests each day, employs and provides a livelihood for 15.6 million workers, and pumps plenty into the nation’s economy. Armed with insights on key trends, opportunities, and a few caveats, operators across all segments can move confidently into the new terrain of 2024, contributing to and benefitting from its momentum, growth, and goodwill.

About Nestlé Professional

Nestlé Professional is dedicated to being an inspiring growth partner that delivers creative, branded food and beverage solutions, enabling foodservice operators to delight their consumers. From Minor’s^®, Stouffer’s^®, Chef-mate^®, and Trio^® on-trend culinary items to innovative beverage systems under NESCAFÉ^®, Nestlé^® Vitality^®, and Coffee mate^® brands, Nestlé Professional meets the needs of foodservice operators while satisfying the tastes of the out-of-home consumer. Nestlé Professional is part of Nestlé S.A. in Vevey, Switzerland—the world’s largest food company—with sales of over $98 billion. For more foodservice product news and information, visit www.nestleprofessional.com.

^{The information provided is based on a general industry overview and is not specific to your business operation. Each operation is unique, and business decisions should be made after consultation with appropriate experts.}