What strategic moves are restaurant operators making in 2024? And what does this mean for their competitors and guests? Popmenu surveyed 461 restaurant leaders and 1,000 consumers across the U.S. in November-December to find the answers. Keep scrolling for tasty details on growth strategies, hot menu trends, marketing plans, tech adoption and the role of artificial intelligence, factors influencing guest purchasing behavior, and more. Ready to dive in?
“Restaurant operators are entering 2024 with a positive, yet watchful, outlook as inflationary pressure somewhat subsides and consumers’ appetite for dining out remains strong and steady. Most feel optimistic about business prospects and more than a third plan to open a new location or expand an existing one in the next 12 months.
However, intense competition for labor and guests persists, prompting restaurants to rethink marketing and operational strategies. Getting back to basic best practices to manage and grow their business—with a greater reliance on new and established technologies for execution—is a key theme that emerged in this year’s study.”
Very optimistic
Cautiously optimistic
Not optimistic
Opening a new location or expanding an existing one this year
When asked to identify their biggest priorities for 2024, stronger sales and profitability remain top of mind for operators, along with improvements in productivity and guest satisfaction.
Grow revenue
Increase margins
Improve the guest experience
Become more efficient
Increase customer loyalty
“We have ten different concepts. Goals are always to increase sales and visibility. We also want to give a great experience not just in the restaurants, but everywhere from our website to social media pages. I don’t have a massive budget, so am using [tech] tools to the best of my ability.”
Consumers are more than happy to help restaurants achieve above mentioned goals. Did you know that 1 in 3 consumers spent more on restaurants than new clothes in 2023? That 1 in 4 spent more on restaurants than travel?
Bottom line, people LOVE their local eateries—75% dine out at least once a week; 26% plan to increase their restaurant spend this year while 61% expect to maintain their current spend.
will order from restaurants more often in 2024
will maintain current restaurant spend in 2024
When it comes to choosing one restaurant over another, consumers say budget-friendly menus (with photos and reviews!), special promotions, and tech-enabled convenience are among factors influencing their dining decisions this year.
Restaurant has affordable menu options
Restaurant offers more digitally-enabled experiences
Restaurant regularly reaches out with special promotions and news
Restaurant has positive reviews on its website
I can order directly from the restaurant's website
Online menu has photos
To meet business goals and consumer expectations, operators are placing a larger emphasis on tried-and-true best practices to bring in more guests and keep them coming back. More specifically, they expect to:
Incorporate more photos of dishes, events, etc. on their website
Ensure consistent outreach to guests (email, text, and social)
Use guest data more strategically for marketing and business decisions
Make sure their menu is updated across digital channels simultaneously
Ensure their website is optimized for search engines like Google
Provide more special offers
Promote an events calendar on their website
Keep more online orders on their website
“We are a huge fan of automated messages because they are a wonderful way to make guests feel special and seen, without requiring a ton of time on the back end. A huge part of our success is the ‘Cheers’ factor of making everyone feel like family both in the restaurant and via our digital communications, and automated messages help us do that.”
Nearly half of operators say they have jobs they can’t fill as they contend with an ongoing labor shortage. To help increase efficiencies and improve financial results, 56% plan to automate more online functions this year while 48% plan to automate more on-premise functions. New tech is being adopted for front-of-house (guest-facing), back-of-house (kitchen), and administrative roles.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to play an increasingly prominent role in supporting operators. The majority (70%) expect AI tech to become a staple in restaurant operations in the future.
Operators want to step up their marketing game this year, but more than half (56%) say they don’t have enough time or resources to effectively promote their restaurant. When asked to identify the most time-consuming tasks they wish they could hire for, the most common responses were creating marketing content and managing social media.
Creating marketing content
Managing social media
More operators (38%) are turning to social influencers to help spread the word about their restaurants. They are also taking advantage of automation to send marketing messages to guests based on their preferences and behavior. In addition, a growing number are using AI technology to automatically create a full month of marketing content that is unique to their restaurant (emails, texts, and social posts).
"The challenge is that I’m not a marketing person. I’m more of an accounting person. I’m able to sit down, spend 10-15 minutes, and have the whole month’s marketing done.”
Restaurants are also leaning on tech to help staff balance the needs of on-premise and off-premise guests—one such application is managing phone calls. Nearly 30% are considering AI technology to field calls from guests and send links to online ordering or reservations, so they don’t lose revenue opportunities.
"What AI [phone] answering has done is free up the personnel to run the food to the tables, take the food to the to-go counter, and better interact with the customer.”
Two of the biggest tech challenges operators face are juggling too many tools and having guest data live in different systems that don’t talk to each other.
Juggling too many tools
Guest data lives in different systems
Restaurants are looking to streamline tech, along with associated costs, and keep guest data centralized for more effective marketing and business decisions.
"Being able to collect customer information so that we can focus our marketing on areas that we know are working is key.”
When it comes to what they’re serving guests, operators expect to incorporate new dishes and a little more flexibility into their menu. Trends to watch in 2024 include:
More rotating menus based on ingredient costs
More beverage options
Cheaper options on the menu
More tasting menus
More refined kids meals
Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are expected to get a little extra attention. Two-thirds (67%) of operators say they will promo their beverage menu more this year. When asked why, 64% said it helps to increase order sizes while 62% say it helps to bring in more guests.
Operators also plan to increase revenue with specialized menus: 44% expect to host online ordering events with limited-time menus to drive quick spikes in sales while 85% plan to increase their catering business.
When it comes to menu prices, 31% of operators feel food costs are more under control compared to a year ago. However, 71% of operators say they will raise menu prices in 2024, on par with last year.
Restaurants are taking on 2024 with a sense of optimism and a game plan for growth. They’re getting back to the basics while taking advantage of new technologies to meet strong consumer demand. AI and automation will continue to play important parts in their strategy as they strive to create greater operational efficiencies, keep guests engaged with more personalized hospitality experiences, and achieve better financial outcomes.
Popmenu conducted a nationwide study of 461 U.S. restaurant owners and operators from November 21 to December 10, 2023. The study included single-location and multi-location restaurants of all types across regions. In addition, Popmenu conducted an anonymous, nationwide study of 1,000 U.S. consumers, ages 18 and older, from November 6 to November 7, 2023.
As a leader in restaurant technology, Popmenu is on a mission to make profitable growth easy for all restaurants. Digital marketing, online ordering, and on-premise technologies headline a powerful product suite infused with artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and deep data on guest preferences. The company consolidates tools needed to engage guests, serving as a digital control center for more than 10,000 independent restaurants and hospitality groups in the US, UK, and Canada. For more information, visit popmenu.com.
