New Data Show Digital Loyalty Programs Are Key Differentiator For Top-Performing Restaurants

The restaurant business is more digitally driven than ever, but online orders are still just one part of what should be a more holistic customer engagement strategy. Forty-one percent of all restaurant sales are now generated online, but the average restaurant customer regularly orders using an average of 2.7 channels, whether it is through their restaurants’ mobile apps, aggregators like GrubHub, UberEats or DoorDash, over the phone or on-site. It is not enough for restaurants to focus on improving their online ordering experience. They must give customers the same high-quality ordering experience no matter how they choose to place their orders.

The 2022 Restaurant Friction Index, a PYMNTS and Paytronix collaboration, provides an insiders’ look at the state of the restaurant business in 2022. We surveyed a census-balanced panel of 2,146 U.S. consumers about their restaurant ordering habits and 501 restaurant managers from across the United States to find out how well restaurants are delivering on their customers’ increasing demand for smoother, faster and more integrated cross-channel ordering experiences.

Key findings from our research include the following:

• Providing an integrated ordering experience across all channels is now top priority for restaurant managers. More restaurant sales are now generated via digital channels such as apps and aggregators than any other way, at 41%. Additionally, 32% of sales are generated on-site, and 26% of sales occur via phone, indicating how critical it is for restaurants to provide seamless ordering experiences across channels.

• Twenty-six percent of quick service restaurants (QSRs) mark up their prices, which rise an average of 24%, when orders come from aggregators. Twenty-seven percent of QSR managers and 14% of table-service restaurant managers confirm that their prices on aggregators are higher than on their websites.

• QSR chains provide the best overall ordering experience of any restaurant type, offering the widest variety of ordering and fulfillment options. They are the most likely type of restaurant to offer seven of the 15 key features that enhance restaurant customers’ ordering experience, and they are most likely to allow customers to order via mobile app, aggregator and loyalty channel.

These are just a few of the latest developments from across the restaurant space. The 2022 Edition of the Restaurant Fiction Index explores how restaurants are innovating to deliver their customers the cross-channel ordering experiences they demand.

To learn more about how the digital economy is reshaping the restaurant business, download the index.