U.S. restaurant chain transaction declines continue to ease

With nearly 320,000 restaurant units in the United States now allowed to offer some level of on-premise dining, customer transaction declines at major restaurant chains continued to improve in the week ending May 24, reported The NPD Group. Total major restaurant chain transactions declined by 18% in the week compared with the same week one year ago, a 25-point gain from the steepest decline during the COVID-19 pandemic of -43% in the week ending April 12.

Major full-service chain restaurant transactions declined by 49% versus the same time one year ago, a 9-point improvement from the prior week’s decline of 58% from a year ago. Transactions at quick-service restaurant chains were down 17% in the week ending May 24 compared with the same week a year ago, improving from the 20% decline in the prior week.

NPD’s CREST foodservice market research, which daily tracks all aspects of how U.S. consumers use restaurants, shows that total industry traffic at chain and independent restaurants was down 35% in April compared with one year ago, which aligns with NPD’s weekly restaurant chain transactions tracking. Drive-thru, primarily at quick-service restaurants, accounted for almost half of all restaurant occasions (46%), while digital orders grew by 106% in April compared with a year ago and now account for 20% of all restaurant occasions.

“Among the most interesting behaviors we’re seeing is the rapid escalation of using technology to engage with restaurants,” said David Portalatin, NPD food industry advisor and author of Eating Patterns in America, in a press release. “Going forward, we might expect a digital divide that sets apart restaurants with well-executed digital offerings and requires those without to turn to the newfound prowess of third-party platforms.”