STUDY: Restaurant Brands with Digital-First Features More Likely to Succeed

Paytronix Systems, Inc. published the latest report in its ongoing series “The Digital Divide: Delivery Service Aggregators and The Digital Shift,” a PYMNTS and Paytronix collaboration. The report highlights how ease-of-use, convenience are the top drivers when consumers make restaurant purchasing decisions. What’s more, even in on-premises situations, restaurants that offer digital first features, like mobile payments, will appeal to key audiences.

The report notes that consumers flocked to multiplatform aggregators during the pandemic and, even as restaurants have opened up, the time-savings offered by these platforms remains attractive.

This is inline with research from market research firm The NPD Group. In an interview with HT,  David Portalatin, the NPD Group’s food industry advisor and author of Eating Patterns in America, said, “Our outlook is that online ordering will continue to grow,” adding that future increases will be more tempered and “not triple-digit growth.”

The same time and convenience factors drive consumers to look for digital-first features, like mobile payments or ordering via QR code, when visiting their local QSR and table service restaurants. In fact, 64% of restaurants surveyed say enabling new payment options are drivers impacting POS upgrades decisions in 2022, according to HT's 2022 POS Software Trends report.

“Convenience has a reputation for impacting consumer choice in restaurant service, but pricing influences all demographics' decision making. Pricing is not a linear concept for many consumers: surcharges and delivery fees appear to be perceived as friction during an order, but they often are overcome by advantages in convenience and user experience. Generations prioritize costs differently as well. Younger consumers are willing to pay a premium to save time, while seniors and baby boomers tend to sacrifice convenience to avoid delivery fees when choosing how to purchase from restaurants.” -- The Digital Divide: Delivery Service Aggregators and The Digital Shift

The report findings include:

Multiplatform Users -- Since the start of the pandemic, 42% of consumers have used at least one aggregator and 15% have used three or more, acting as “multiplatform users.” Consumers’ ongoing embrace of multiplatform aggregators stems from a desire for simplicity and convenience. Even as consumers have regained access to their favorite restaurants, multiplatform aggregators still provide the kind of time-saving conveniences many consumers, especially affluent younger adults, have come to rely on.

Demographics -- Multiplatform users are more likely to be millennials (34%), have high incomes (22% earn more than $100,000 per year) and possess a college education (20%) than the average restaurant consumer. Consumers who do not use aggregators are more likely to be baby boomers and seniors (87%) and have lower incomes (70% earn less than $50K per year).

Digital-First Features -- Multiplatform aggregator users are digital savants, using available technologies, such as mobile payment and QR code menus, to save time at a rate that is nearly twice that of delivery aggregator nonusers. That means consumers often gain time when they use digital-first tools such as mobile payment apps to make purchases, and this often boosts customer loyalty.

Loyalty Programs Increase -- Restaurants have increased their loyalty program offerings, and 48% of consumers are using them. Table-service restaurant customers are slightly more likely to use loyalty programs than those of QSRs (45% and 42%, respectively). This makes sense, as consumers who perceive higher prices when dining in may respond to offers that save them money over time.

Download the full report, Digital Divide:  Delivery Service Aggregators and the Digital Shift   Read the previous Delivering on Restaurant Rewards Reports.

Methodology

The Digital Divide: Delivery Service Aggregators and the Digital Shift, a PYMNTS and Paytronix collaboration, is based on census-balanced surveys of 2,545 U.S. consumers conducted between Oct. 20 and Oct. 25, 2021, as well as an analysis of other economic data. The sample was constructed to match the U.S. adult population in key demographic characteristics. Respondents averaged 48 years of age, 52% are female, and 32% hold college degrees. Sampling also covered different income brackets: 36% of respondents earn more than $100,000 a year, while 31% earn $50,000 to $100,000 and 33% earn less than $50,000.

Survey: The Pandemic has Permanently Altered the Consumer-Restaurant Relationship