7 in 10 Independent Restaurants Do Not Offer Mobile Order-Ahead

When it comes to meeting consumers’ demand for digital convenience, independent restaurants are lagging behind their chain counterparts. Be it loyalty rewards or online ordering channels, independents are far less digitally connected.

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 draws from a survey of nearly 2,500 U.S. consumers, finds that 56% of chain restaurants offer mobile order-ahead options. In contrast, only 31% of independents do the same. Similarly, 63% of chain restaurants offer curbside pickup, compared to just 40% of independents, and 44% of chains have loyalty programs, compared to just 20% of independents.

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“Chain locations consistently lead in rolling out features,” the study notes.

The Data in Context

Yet, in spite of this disparity, independent restaurants are well ahead of where they would have been technology-wise were it not for the pandemic.

“When [restaurants] were forced to close their doors to in-person business, many of them quickly developed new strategies to service their communities without missing a beat,” Colleen Taylor, president of U.S. Merchant Services at American Express, told PYMNTS in an interview in March.

Taylor noted that, amid ongoing changes in consumers’ behavior, independent restaurants “need to be tech savvy and willing to leverage technology.”