In a webinar titled « Restaurants in 2024: A Data Driven Look, » RJ Hottovy, head of analytical research for Placer.ai, a location-based analytics company powered by mobile data, took a look at some current trends in the restaurant industry.
There was a spike in restaurant visits in January and February of 2023 over 2022, as Americans were dealing with the Omicron variant last year.
« As the year’s progressed, we’ve seen this sort of moderation and there’s a lot of factors behind that, » Hottovy said. « I think certainly consumers are feeling the pinch of inflation even as that has moderated, not just food — food at home and food away from home — but I also think that just rent and healthcare costs and general, everyday expenses has made things a little bit harder. While there certainly is demand for people to dine out, I think we’ve seen people less want to do it on a regular basis. »
Hottovy said event days like Valentine’s Day, Easter and Mothers’ Day showed strong performance as people are willing to spend money around holiday and event periods.
Starting mid-way through the summer and into the fall months, we have seen that moderate even more, he added.
Higher-price point categories like fine dining and casual dining have seen more weakness in visits than QSRs and fast casuals.
« We have seen some categories that are doing relatively well, especially coffee being one of those, » Hottovy said, « and I think there are two things really driving that. … One, I think we have on a year over year basis, we have seen people returning to work. Now, it’s still well below what we’ve seen pre-pandemic, and I think the hybrid work model is here to stay. …. I think an even bigger factor is a lot of chains like Starbucks as well as some more of the upstarts like 7Brew or Scooter’s Coffee, have also been drivers. »
To watch the free webinar on demand, click here.
