Insights
The pandemic has sped up digital transformation in the hospitality industry, and consumers are more willing to adopt new technological solutions than ever before, mainly due to necessity. Nobody blinks at using a QR code to check in, or using an Order & Pay app at the pub anymore, but what will happen post-pandemic?
Will customers want to revert back to the way things were with good old human interaction and low-tech solutions, or are there some things that are here to stay? We've asked our panel of mystery guests for their thoughts on the matter, and here are our findings.
Over half of our consumer panel (54%) prefers to order from paper menus and have a server take their order and payment, almost a quarter (22%) want to only use apps going forward.
Another quarter (24%) thinks that a marriage of the two approaches (technology meets personal touch) is the winning combination.
We asked the respondents for the key factor in their decision, and the most popular answer was the desire for a 'personal / human touch', which was selected by 40%. The second most favoured reason was convenience, chosen by a third of the consumers (30%). 13% of all survey respondents said they don't like relying on technology, and less than 1 in 10 (9%) stated that the most important factor for them was 'speed of service'. Perhaps the most surprising result was that only 8% of customers indicated the environment as the key driver for their decision.
Paper menus and a server taking the order and payment
Of those 54% who prefer traditional methods of ordering and paying, 62% said that the 'personal / human touch' was the key contributing factor for their decision. 18% explained that they don’t like relying on technology, and another 13% stated they thought this was the most convenient solution. In terms of age, we found that the likelihood to prefer traditional ordering methods increases linearly with age, as only 35% of Gen-Z (18-25) prefer non-technological solutions, but this percentage reaches 74% amongst the 66+ age groups. From a gender perspective, 60% of women tend to favour traditional ordering and paying methods, whereas with men that figure is only 38%.
App to browse, order & pay
Of the 22% who have completely adopted a technology-first approach and prefer an app for menu browsing, ordering and payment, 3 out of 5 (60%) said ‘convenience’ was the primary factor for their decision, and another 21% prefer apps because they improve ‘speed of service’.
Interestingly, 14% of customers who prefer apps said their reasoning was due to environmental concerns, a higher percentage than the entire consumer group average (9%), meaning that some customers purposefully choose apps over paper menus for their environmental impact.
As one would expect, younger people are more likely to favour apps, with nearly a third (30%) of all respondents aged 18-35 stated it as their preference. That figure then drops in a downwards trend to a mere 12% with people over 56. In terms of gender, 32% of men chose apps over paper menus and servers, whereas that percentage is only 18% with women.
Combination of hospitality technology and personal touch
24% of the consumer panel want the best out of both worlds and favour a marriage of the two approaches, but have opposing views on how that combination should be set up. A slightly more popular option is to have paper menus with an Order & Pay app (13%) however, 11% believe an app / QR code for online menu browsing with a person taking the order and payment is the best solution. The biggest driver for both groups is convenience, followed by the desire for personal / human touch.
More than a third of (35%) of Gen-Z (18-25) prefer a combination solution, however, contrary to expectations, that percentage drops to 23% in the Millennial (26-35) and 36-45 age groups but then increases to 25% and 27% for ages 46-55 and 56-65, respectively. Unsurprisingly, only 13% of respondents over 66 prefer a marriage of hospitality tech and human interaction. Yet again, women seem to be slightly more technophobic than men, with only 22% vs 30% of men opt for this approach.
QR Codes
Has scanning become second nature or will consumers brush this off like a nasty habit, once we’re back to normal?
The answer for the vast majority (78%) is a ‘no, thank you’, when it comes to scanning QR codes for menu browsing, whilst 22% actually prefer using QR codes to access menus on their phones over regular paper menus.
The choices follow previously established patterns, namely that younger people are more likely to favour tech solutions, as do 2 out of 5 (40%) in the Gen-Z age group, and following a linear downward trend, dropping to only 4% within the 66+ age group.
The contrast between men and women is less stark in this category, with only 27% of men and 21% of women choose QR codes over traditional physical menus.
Loyalty programmes
As operators are always trying to entice revisits, it helps to know whether a good loyalty programme would help increase the number of return visits to venues.
We put it to our consumer panel and got a resounding ‘yes’ as an answer. 4 out of 5 (80%) believe that a good loyalty programme would make them visit a venue more than they normally would. From an age perspective, all age groups from 18 to 55 are very positively attuned, the uptake within those age ranges being highest at 92% for consumers aged 45-56, and lowest, at 85% for the 36-45 age group. However, interest decreases dramatically for those aged over 56, as 67% respondents in the 56-65 would be keen in a loyalty programme, and the figure is even lower (44%) for those aged over 66. There’s little contrast between men and women, both are equally enthusiastic about good loyalty programmes.
Key factors for a revisit
Whilst exploring the subject of loyalty programmes to increase revisits, we also wanted to know what the deciding factors were for a customer to revisit in the first place, and what customers consider most important, when making their decision. Here they are in descending order:
It’s worth noting that the younger the customer, the more important trendiness, location and value for money are as deciding factors, and conversely, food quality becomes more important as customers move up in age groups. Looking at differences in gender profiles, women tend to look more closely at cost, but also have a keener interest in the ‘trend factor’, whilst men are more after value for money.
Confidence amongst consumers is rising slowly but steadily. We have been keeping track how safe our panel of consumers feel at the idea of going out into hospitality venues.
Our most recent survey results reveal that the average figure is now 7.88 out of 10. That number was 7.55 in March, 7.51 over Christmas last year, and 7.07 in October 2020.
For those of you who care more about facts and less about opinions; here's pure statistics for you.
Gen-Z (18-25)
Millennials (26-35)
36-45
46-55
56-65
66+
Women
Men
