Lunchtime looks different in many cities right now. A recent report from Restaurant Business said that according to new data from tech supplier Toast, weekday lunch transactions in 19 of the country’s biggest metropolitan areas remained down considerably in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 2019. The numbers suggest that the shift in post-pandemic work habits is having a continued impact on lunch business. When Americans do have lunch out, they are spending more, which could be due to higher menu prices, or because people are dining out in larger groups and placing bigger orders. In any case, the lunch day part has potential to become more of an experience driver in the current environment – a time for events as opposed to casual meals in the middle of the work week. Consider the new working habits of the organizations with offices in your area – or the people who reside in your neighborhood. Have hybrid work arrangements become the norm? If so, employers are likely looking for opportunities to bring employees together in meaningful ways on the days they do come together – and catered food can play a big role in that. If people living near you are working from home, they still need to eat – and maybe you can provide a meal deal, salad kit or delivery promotion that can make at-home break times feel like something to look forward to. As the pandemic continues, hybrid work arrangements look like they may be here to stay for many – if not most – companies around the country. Global research indicates that 72 percent of corporate leaders plan to offer hybrid models of working. How might your restaurant meet the moment? If your dine-in business lunch traffic continues to be low, could your business find a new way to attract the guests who used to come to you? Panera, for one, has been acting on a new strategy aimed specifically at remote workers. They are offering scheduled group ordering, as well as catering for companies with workers in different places. At a time when companies are trying to navigate how to maintain camaraderie across employee teams that may only see each other for a few days each week in satellite offices, offering a regularly scheduled catered lunch might be an appealing way to make the most of the time employees spend face to face. Or, you could target the large population of consumers working from home. The World Economic Forum said recently that up to 20 percent of the U.S. entire workforce will continue to work from home permanently, up from 5 percent pre-pandemic. If you’re located in an area with condominium complexes where people are apt to be continuing to work from home, offering a scheduled building-wide delivery might enable you to attract lunchtime traffic – even if it’s not in your dining room |
Subscribe to our newsletterArchives
March 2024
Categories
All
|