Restaurant operators are adjusting to what we’re calling “the new normal marketplace.” The prolonged road to economic recovery has made consumers cautious, controlled spenders — at restaurants as well as in other aspects of their lives. Demand for restaurant-prepared meals and snacks in Canada since 2008 has been fairly flat overall. Full-service restaurants, however, have not fared as well as the industry as a whole with traffic down 79 million visits since that time. This means that for FSR operators to meet growth plans, they must do a better job than the competition when it comes to holding onto customers.

Revisit intent is a key measure in helping us understand loyalty. While the data show that revisit intent is increasing in some customer categories, the focus should be on those very important customers who say they will definitely visit again in the next four weeks. They are the core of FSR business as they account for a significant share of traffic. However, their inclination to revisit FSR has been declining, going from 40 per cent in 2008 to 36 per cent in 2014 — a sizeable loss. We need to understand what is behind this trend.

What makes FSR customers most satisfied

NPD data reveal that out of 26 customer satisfaction attributes, eight were significantly more important than others when choosing to visit a FSR. These eight focus primarily on food as well as the guest experience, and were particularly important to FSRs’ most loyal customers, those who said they would definitely revisit over the next four-week period. Attributes related to affordability and good value for the money are also very important, but food attributes and guest experience overwhelmingly lead all other factors.