Consumers Pick Chain Restaurants When They Want to Spend Less

Food prices may be weighing heavy on consumers’ minds across the board, but when it comes to using prices to stand out from the competition, chains have more to worry about than their independent counterparts.

By the Numbers

Research from the June edition of PYMNTS’ Digital Divide study, “The Digital Divide: Technology, Customer Service and Innovation in the Restaurant Industry,” which drew from a survey of nearly 2,400 United States adults who regularly buy food from restaurants, found that 36% of consumers consider everyday prices important in selecting a given chain restaurant over others. In contrast, only 23% said the same of independent restaurants.

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The Data in Action

Some chain restaurants are rethinking their menu with an eye toward creating items they can sell at lower prices.

James Marcus, partner and operator of Capital Tacos, a fast-casual Tex-Mex restaurant chain in Florida, spoke with PYMNTS earlier this year about how restaurants can get imaginative to mitigate the impact of inflation.

Read more: For Restaurants, Inflationary Challenges Prompt Menu Creativity

“I’m not the youngest guy in the room anymore, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Marcus said. “I don’t know too many people that have. [Inflation is] impacting everything. … We have to look at our individual components of our business, all day, every day. … Now, you can’t set your menu and forget it. … You set your menu, and then you look at your suppliers and decide what change you need to make on a pretty much every shipment basis.”