Social distancing is an issue in fast casual venues
The ‘fast casual / grab and go’ sector is moving backwards in terms of customer sentiment. The latest Customer Sentiment Tracker from Feed It Back and KAM Media shows that NPS scores are still significantly lower in these outlets compared with pre-lockdown (20 compared with 64 in February.) This segment includes venues which provide a takeaway, grab and go, or quick service dining experience.
Carlo Platia, CEO at Feed It Back: “The ‘fast casual’ sector continues to under-perform in it’s customers’ eyes compared with other hospitality sectors. The proportion of customers who say they would recommend the ‘fast casual’ outlet continues to fall. Operators need to pause and really listen to their customers to find out why.”
The tracker shows that confidence levels amongst customers of the ‘fast casual’ sector are also lower than other sectors. At a hospitality industry average, 94% of customers say they feel safe enough to return but this is just 78% for ‘fast casual’ customers. Again, the data collected via the Feed It Back platform shows this figure has dropped since July (88%.)
According to 17,298 customers who visited one of 794 hospitality venues in last week, lack of social distancing is the number one reason given for not feeling safe enough to return to a hospitality venue, for the third week running. Social distancing is an even higher concern within ‘fast casual’ venues with 1-in-5 customers stating it is the reason they will not return.
Katy Moses, MD at KAM Media: “The smaller size of many ‘fast casual’ venues and the need for queue management is clearly causing extra concern for customers when it comes to physical distancing. Speed of service is of course also especially important for these customers, so operators have a particularly tricky conundrum. How do I distance my customers and ensure they feel safe without it impacting service time, or perceived service time?”
This week’s tracker also shows that “Eat out to help out’ continues to attract harsh critics overall. NPS scores continues to be significantly lower Mon to Weds (52 Mon-Weds compared with 60 Thurs – Sun.)
Operators can trial the Feed It Back system for free right now and see how they compare with their industry peers in the ‘Customer Sentiment Tracker’. Email allears@feeditback.com to sign up.
KAM Media
KAM Media is a boutique research consultancy, specialising in hospitality and retail. Our research and insights tools, and services, are designed to give our clients the critical knowledge needed to understand why, where, when and how to create an impactful and engaging customer experience, at every stage of the journey.
For more information contact:
Katie Jenkins – KAM Media – katie@kam-media.co.uk
Feed It Back
Feed It Back is a company that tracks the word on the street about operators, through immediate feedback on experiences and online review platforms, such as Facebook and TripAdvisor. It aggregates all feedback into one easy to use platform that allows operators to efficiently deal with feedback they otherwise wouldn’t have heard, reward employees for excellent service and turn negative experiences into positives.
It currently boasts a range of clients including: Loungers, Boston Tea Party, Tenpin, Brains, and Paul UK, to name a few.
For further information, contact allears@feeditback.com