The Data Point: 65% of ‘Grab-and-Go’ Restaurant Clients Have a Taste for Digital Wallets

Are you a “grab-and-go” restaurant customer, favoring whatever’s fastest? Perhaps you’re more of a “dine-in” fan who prefers the full tableside experience. Maybe you’re the “either-or” type without any strong preference. These are the primary personas of restaurant diners today.

With the changes technology has wrought in a pandemic reshuffling of how we live, work and pay, the restaurant sector retains its powerful appeal, but new customer types and preferences are impacting tech decisions restaurant operators must continue making.

For The Digital Divide: Technology, The Metaverse And The Future Of Dining Out, a PYMNTS and Paytronix collaboration, we surveyed nearly 2,500 consumers about their dining choices, payment partialities, and even their sentiments on engaging with dining in the metaverse.

The following data points are a sample of the valuable information found in the full study.

Get the study: The Digital Divide: Technology, The Metaverse And The Future Of Dining Out

• 65% of “grab-and-go” consumers use digital wallets for restaurant purchases

Fully one-third (33%) of all respondents are what we categorize as “grab-and-go” clients who do exactly that with their food orders. Millennials dominate the grab-and-go grouping at 49%. As we know, they’re tech-centric and drawn to digital touchless payments and instant experiences.

“Grab-and-go consumers use available high-tech features more often than dine-in consumers. Our data finds that the most popular technologies grab-and-go consumers used in restaurants include digital wallets, used by 65% of this group; special pickup points, used by 59%; and self-service kiosks, also used by 59%,” the study states.

• 74% of consumers say they value continuity in restaurant waitstaff

Amid the great digital shift, it’s nice to find an appreciation for the human touch. With widespread staffing issues pressing down on restaurants, consumers who frequent them like to see familiar faces when they come by for some chow, and maybe some chat.

Per the study, “74% of consumers say that they value waitstaff continuity. This number holds across demographics, demonstrating that all patrons want to see the same team members serving them each time they return to the restaurant.” Breaking it down by personas, 79% of “grab-and-go” also think staff continuity is good, as do millennials. “Either-or” diners are least concerned about this aspect, yet 71% say they care about waitstaff continuity.

• 33% of grab-and-go customers are “very” or “extremely” familiar with the metaverse — more than double the share of either dine-in or either-or customers

Not specifying what they’ll order there or how it will be eaten, there’s a fairly high level of interest among restaurant regulars in metaverse experiences with beloved restaurant brands.

Finding that “that 33% of grab-and-go customers are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ familiar with the metaverse — more than double the share of either dine-in or either-or customers, at approximately 13% each,” the study notes that “those who understand the metaverse’s potential are willing to see where food will fit in. Of the consumers that already participate in the metaverse or are interested in it, 38% would be willing to integrate restaurant purchases into this environment, including a majority of grab-and-go customers (51%).”

Get your copy: The Digital Divide: Technology, The Metaverse And The Future Of Dining Out