The eating out market is well placed to benefit from rising consumer confidence in 2014 as a popular discretionary spending area. However, operators in the market also have to contend with consumers’ saving mentality, putting the onus firmly on restaurants to more proactively give them a reason to purchase. As a result, the market is seeing the continued development of areas such as all-day dining and multifaceted/multiservice formats. More targeted concepts such as fast casual dining which appeal to the time-pressed consumer are also gaining ground.

Trends such as pre-ordering, prepayment and other online/mobile services are gaining ground as operators look to make it increasingly easy for consumers to choose their brand. This is fuelled by the need for brands to increase their relevance to consumers’ wider lifestyles.

Meanwhile, other online marketing techniques such as video content are also increasingly significant as operators look to create standout and develop more personalised relationships with consumers. The need to build brand loyalty is a particularly pressing concern for the industry after a long period of heavy discounting. This has fuelled promiscuity amongst diners with 30% stating that vouchers encourage them to use one venue over another.

Definition

In this report, Mintel investigates the factors affecting consumers’ decision-making process in terms of eating out venues and the choice of dish. The scope of this report is the eating out market within the UK, eg fast food venues, coffee shops, pub catering, independent and chain restaurants, in-store restaurants, hotel catering etc (but excluding commercial catering, eg canteens, contract catering).

Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.

Abbreviations

BGF Business Growth Fund
CJEU Court of Justice of the European Union
Nielsen Media Research For further information, please contact nmr.communication@nielsenmedia.co.uk
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