Americans Prefer Quick Service Chains to Full Service Restaurants Amid Pandemic
Americans were preferring quick-service options even before the pandemic hit, and those brands are seeing smaller declines in sales than full service restaurants.
July 16, 2020 | Jacqueline Thomsen | GlobeSt.com
Quick service restaurant chains in the US are seeing less of a decline in customers than their full-service counterparts, likely due to features that make it easier to carry out contactless orders and otherwise adapt to the pandemic, according to market research firm NDP Group.
Transactions at major restaurant brands were down by 10 percent the week of July 5th compared to sales during the same time period a year ago. That’s an improvement of four percentage points from the week earlier
Much of that uptick can be sourced to the quick-service chains, where transactions were up by four points compared to the week prior, which saw a 13 percent declined compared to last year. But full-service restaurants continue to be pummeled by the pandemic: Transactions were down 30 percent the week of July 5 compared to a year ago, a 5 decline from prior week’s metrics, according to NPD.