Consumers’ Restaurant & Foodservice Behavior Likely To Shift Post-Covid
Deloitte’s Global State of the Consumer Tracker poll examines likely outcomes for the restaurant and foodservices industry in an economy recovering from Covid-19 — and predicts some significant changes franchised restaurants must plan for in a post-Covid world. Find a summary and a free downloadable 5-page report here.
Based on a poll of 3,000 U.S. consumers, the trend of consumers buying fresh food and cooking more at home will continue — despite reports of pent-up demand and partial or full restaurant reopenings happening now across the country.
“There are high hopes that things will go back to normal once the vaccine is in enough arms, including dining out,” the authors note. “However, a full return to normal may not be in the cards for the foodservices and restaurant industries.”
Based on the responses, the data indicate that “while restaurant dining will surely increase from today’s levels, consumers are telling us frequency will remain stunted compared to 2019, at least in the medium term.”
Some stats for net activity change after the health crisis ends, benchmarked against pre-pandemic activity levels:
+42% Cook at home
+29% Buy fresh food
+26% Work from home
+20% Order food for takeout or delivery
-10% Stay at a hotel or motel
-12% Eat at restaurants
-13% Take a flight
-16% Attend in-person events
Keep in mind, the authors note, that this data tracks people and their intention to participate less, more, or about the same in these activities (and not dollar spending). Also, Americans have famously short memories, and old habits die hard, which is why they qualify the results as medium-term, not permanent… at least not yet.
Learn more about Franchising at Franchising.com
