• DATA & INSIGHTS •
HOW OPERATORS CAN NAVIGATE LOW CONSUMER CONFIDENCE WITHOUT OVERUSING DISCOUNTS Technomic spoke about leaning into LTOs and menu innovation to keep customers coming back at the CREATE conference in Nashville
I t’s no secret that consumer confi - dence is low, with 62% of people living paycheck to paycheck, ac- cording to data from Technomic. Inflationary challenges are present on restaurant menus too, with menu prices now 28% higher, on average, than in 2020, Technomic senior prin- cipal David Henkes shared during CREATE: the Event for Emerging Restaurateurs in Nashville, Tenn. This dynamic of skyrocketing menu prices juxtaposed against stag- nant household budgets has really resulted in concerning traffic num - bers. “As non-prime costs continue to proliferate,” Henkes said, full-service dining is faring even worse than lim- ited-service operators when it comes to maintaining traffic numbers. With this dynamic expected to continue (36% of consumers expect their restaurant visits to decrease in Q3), many operators are taking the discounting route, though it’s not the only option. “When you’ve got higher prices and declining traffic, you see deals,” Henkes said, during the session ti- tled “Restaurants 2030.” “The value wars have really erupted, not only in the QSR, where a number of chains BY JOANNA FANTOZZI
“ There’s a lot of trial and error going on, and it’s typically all happening on the LTO side. I increasingly believe that beverage is one of the battlefields for restaurant innovation right now.”
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PHOTO CREDIT: EDIN STUDIOS
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