FSR March 2023

ON T H E GO

Over the summer, Texas Roadhouse CEO Jerry Morgan informed investors the brand’s “historical seasonal sales trends” were back in the mix. It marked really the first time since COVID’s arrival the steakhouse chain could say so. Essentially, it began to prepare for back-to-school and typical routines—things that vanished fromMarch 2020 forward. Has this maintained? Insights platformWisevoter released its Dining Recovery Index to illustrate how the dining industry fared during the holiday season. It examined the change in percentage of visits for restaurants compared to 2022 on its educational platform.

A focus on casual dining (States ranked in order of increase in visits by percentage during holidays compared to December 2020)

The Dine-In Balance This return of in-store casual visits has recalibrated the field. According to Q4 data from Revenue Management Solutions, dine-in traffic (plus 31.1 percent)

Dine-in Traffic  31 %

6. Alaska: 77 % 7. Michigan: 75 % 8. New Hampshire: 66 % 9. Oregon: 66 % 10. Kentucky: 64 %

1. Colorado: 91 % 2. NewMexico: 90 % 3. Vermont: 88 % 4. Minnesota: 85 % 5. Illinois: 83 %

11. Rhode Island: 61 % 12. California: 60 % 13. Washington: 59 % 14. Maine: 58 % 15. Massachusetts: 55 %

saw the most considerable increase compared to last year. Drive-thru was down 12.2 percent, year-over-year, yet has remained stable throughout 2022. Some other stats (per RMS) : • Takeout traffic was up 22.1 percent. • Delivery traffic was also positive year-over-year at 15.9 percent, but performance slightly declined compared to Q3 2022 (20.1 percent). • Quick service was the top segment choice. When asked about the category they were using “more or much more,” over 40 percent of respondents said quick service as compared to coffee shops, breakfast restaurants, and full service.

The biggest takeaway?

Loyal Frequent Customers 10 + restaurant visits per week

“Operators should concentrate on loyal, frequent customers as they fight for market share. In the deep dive survey, respondents reporting 10-plus restaurant visits per week were twice as likely to increase their future usage across all channels,” RMS said.

Breaking out Colorado returned an interesting juxtaposition:

Change in visits to restaurants: 91 %

Change in visits to grocery stores: 0 %

ADOBE STOCK: GRUOP AT TABLE / RAWPIXEL.COM, USA MAP / HURCA!, DINING ICONS / MACROONE

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INDUSTRY-WIDE ISSUE

MARCH 2023