Rewards for Digital Orders Tempt Guests: Study

Digital experience consultancy, Bottle Rocket, has released a Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) research study following the outbreak of COVID-19. This reveals that despite a shift towards home meal preparation, over a third of customers will rely heavily on QSRs in the coming weeks.

Leveraging testing platform Alpha, Bottle Rocket asked 500+ customers questions across 50 states, about how their needs were being met by their favorite restaurants, how they prefer to receive information, and what restaurants could do to win more business.

Changes in shopping behavior and purchase decisions are separating consumers into two camps: 1) those who are less reliant on takeout and QSRs and 2) those who intend to continue to order a majority of food from QSRs.

Key highlights from the latest survey include:

• 80% of customers are more likely to order from a restaurant if they offer rewards for digital or text message ordering.
• Respondents in the 40 to 44-year-old group are 30% more likely to prefer finding news on a restaurant's app over checking the same restaurant's website.
• Respondents were 17% more likely to prefer gathering information from their favorite restaurants via social media than via email.
• Nearly 20% of respondents claimed that they would not return to a QSR or fast-food restaurant in the next week.

“It is critical that QSRs engage with each segment differently and recalibrate their business decisions and marketing communication strategies – and fast," said Rajesh Midha, Chief Strategy Officer of Bottle Rocket.

The first round of results can be found here.