Masks rising on customers’ agenda
Overall customer confidence in health and hygiene remains strong within hospitality, with little change since re-opening weekend- 95% of those who visited a hospitality venue this week feel confident enough to return. Despite this, the Customer Sentiment Tracker from Feed It Back and KAM Media found that the use of masks has become a focus area for many this week.
The number one reason given as to why 5% of customers did not feel safe enough to return was that staff weren’t wearing masks. ‘Mask wearing’ was a top reason given by 18% of these nervous customers. Interestingly it has not featured as a concern in previous weeks when the top concerns were social distancing, covid hygiene and service.
“When we look at feedback for specific venues where their staff do wear masks, their customers seem to be very happy about it and feel very safe. As people get increasingly used to seeing people in masks, it may go so far as becoming an expectation or even a requirement for some customers when choosing which venues to visit” comments Carlo Platia, CEO at Feed It Back.
Cleanliness has also made an appearance in the top 5 customer complaints since re-opening weekend (it was way down the list pre-lockdown.) The areas of cleanliness which customers are most concerned about this week are unclean tables, toilets and floors. 1-in-11 also complained about lack of mask wearing.
Katy Moses, MD at KAM Media: “This isn’t the sexy or fun bit of hospitality but right now it’s critical. There are two clear factors which operators need to get right with regards to Covid hygiene; firstly the reality of sticking to health and safety procedures and secondly, how visible this is to customers. This means adopting a more ‘high profile’ approach to cleanliness. Perception is reality for customers- operators need to leave no doubt in their minds that they are safe.”
Another change in sentiment this week: VAT cuts seem to be losing focus. When looking at complaints about ‘value’, 4% of customers mentioned ‘VAT not being passed on to customers’ last week, whereas this week it’s just 2%.
“The concern about VAT is likely to be driven by press coverage. As the press move on, it’s price and food quality that are the real issues with regards to value for money. Putting our focus on schemes like ‘Eat Out, Give Back’ will really help hospitality create customer demand” comments Moses.
Overall the hospitality net promoter scores (NPS) remain really strong at 59, with the ‘premium casual’ segment leading the charge (74). Satisfaction ratings in ‘premium casual’ are also well above other hospitality segments.
“Premium casual is really justifying it’s price tag” comments Platia. “The segment is attracting ‘satisfaction ratings’ above pre-lockdown levels for all areas. Best in class NPS is as high as 84, suggesting that some operators are really over-delivering in terms of safety procedures, food and drink quality and overall experience.”
The Customer Sentiment Tracker measures key KPI’s focussed on customer sentiment including NPS and satisfaction ratings covering cleanliness, atmosphere, service and value. Operators can trial the Feed It Back system for free right now and be included in the tracker. To receive the tracker direct to your inbox email allears@feeditback.com
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