Restaurant owners prepare for expansion in 2024 and beyond.
Over the next year, the majority of restaurants are focused on growing their business outside their core offerings, which complements consumers’ growing interest in offerings like meal kits, pre-made meals, and wine subscriptions.
Growth will be a resounding theme for restaurants over the next year. The far majority (90%) of owners across regions and restaurant types plan to stand up new revenue streams outside their core offerings, continuing an ongoing trend. In 2023, 43% of respondents said they would expand substantially compared to only 34% in 2022.
Offering new products and services creates an opportunity for significant revenue growth.
The Fricken Sauce and Satay Sauce are our top sellers, outselling our nearest two commercial items by over 400%. By offering these items as retail products, our customers can enjoy them at home, thus strengthening our brand presence.
Across regions, casual dining restaurants are focused on expansion the most.
This is a particular focus for Australian restaurant operators: More than half (52%) said they plan to expand substantially. However, the majority (98%) experience challenges with this. Across restaurant types and regions, marketing (71%) and inventory management (86%) are leading hurdles in restaurant experience related to offering products and services outside their core businesses.
When it comes to inventory management, fast-food restaurants struggle the most. Nearly half (46%) say that dealing with new supply chains is the biggest challenge.
Under the umbrella of marketing, maintaining consumer interest is the biggest challenge for fine dining restaurants (47%), casual dining restaurants (44%), and cafes or other restaurants (50%).
As restaurant owners focus on improving their margins and accomplishing their goals, they will seek out new technology that meets their needs.
of restaurants across regions and restaurant types plan to increase their spending on technology and automation tools over the next 12 months. Those in Canada slightly outpace other regions, 56% say they will spend more.
For the remaining restaurant owners, technology certainly won’t be an afterthought. Restaurants will continue to rely on their current tools and systems to help them reach their goals, 34% of restaurants will maintain their investment in their technology tools.
A key factor in ensuring your restaurant’s success is understanding what your community and guests are looking for — and what will keep them coming back. With restaurant-focused tech, though, you can keep track of and make adjustments based on what your guests want, like identifying and adding popular specials to the regular menu or having greater visibility into when to staff up on busy days, ensuring you’re providing the best experience time and time again. To keep customers coming back, too, restaurants can use automated marketing and campaign tools to send customised promotions based on preferences and their feedback.
Going into 2024, 75% of consumers predict they will scale back on dining in-person and ordering through a third-party delivery service or app, requiring restaurants to pay more attention to personal consumer preferences and responding quickly to emerging trends.
There is a growing desire for locally sourced food, 35% of Baby Boomers and 34% of Gen X say this would interest them in a new restaurant, compared to Millennials (33%) and Gen Z (31%).
Gen Z, who will soon become the largest consumer cohort, say the following would increase their interest in a new restaurant:
Restaurants that go above and beyond to create entertaining and personalised experiences for their guests will be the ones that ultimately succeed.
We accidentally opened a bakery (it was only meant to be online) and made it as beautiful as possible to gain as much 'instragrammable' exposure as possible.
Already, restaurants have seen substantial benefits from onboarding technology solutions to combat staffing challenges and give consumers more options to order and pay. To continue to grow and stay competitive in today’s market, restaurant owners will need solutions that help them understand their guest's behaviour and preferences better than ever before.
Businesses that embrace restaurant technology solutions that give more data about their business, will ultimately be better prepared to respond to emerging trends and serve personalised needs.
Square helps restaurants power all aspects of their business. With Square for Restaurants, you can take orders, accept payments, manage inventory, review business data, and understand customer preferences all in one system.
Please note that quotes from Fricken, Cheran’s Bakery, and Superbaba have been sourced from interviews for which they received compensation.
