STUDY: 18% of Restaurant Customers Already Participate in Metaverse
Restaurant customers are paying attention to the metaverse: 20% are familiar with the metaverse and 18% have participated in these cutting-edge environments, according to the report, The Digital Divide: Technology, The Metaverse and the Future Of Dining Out.
The report, a PYMNTS and Paytronix collaboration, finds that the metaverse — an advanced, social, virtual reality platform — is another way in which restaurant customers will interact with their favorite brands, hang out with other fans of their favorite eateries, and maybe even buy their favorite foods.
Key findings:
33% of grab-and-go customers are very or extremely familiar with the metaverse, more than double the share of either dine-in or either-or customers.
40% of Gen Z respondents said they are very familiar with the metaverse.
34% of Millennials have participated in a metaverse environment. This may have to do with the generation’s superior spending power, as consumers who earn over $100,000 annually are more likely than those of other income brackets to have participated in a metaverse environment.
38% of consumers who already participate in the metaverse or are interested in it would be willing to integrate restaurant purchases into this environment, including a majority of grab-and-go customers.
21% of consumers who say they are not interested in buying food in the metaverse are not interested because they are either unfamiliar with it or believe the metaverse is complicated.
Don't Forget Dine-In
According to the research, a majority say that friendly waitstaff and staff continuity at their favorite eateries are some of the most important factors that keep bringing them back. More than 33% of consumers say that friendliness is the most important thing a restaurant can provide, and nearly 75% say that seeing the same staff every time they visit a restaurant positively influences their experience.
Wendy's Opens First VR Restaurant
Methodology
The Digital Divide: Technology, The Metaverse and the Future of Dining Out. examines consumers’ relationships with restaurant technologies and views, attitudes toward digital food ordering trends and virtual reality in the restaurant context. 2,496 consumers in the U.S. were surveyed between April 6 and April 12 about their experiences. Respondents’ average age was 48, 52% were female and 36% earned more than $100,000 annually.