Chicago — Restaurant visits by families with kids (those including children under age 13) have been declining since 2008, reports The NPD Group, a leading global information company. Families with kids made 1 billion fewer visits to U.S. restaurants over the past six years compared to 306 million fewer visits by adult-only parties, finds a new NPD foodservice market research report.
Restaurant visits by families, which represent $83.7 billion or 20 percent of total restaurant sales, have dropped across all segments and meal periods, with supper hit especially hard, according to NPD’s Parties with Kids: Motivating More Visits report. Full service restaurants experienced the majority of the visits losses, accounting for 70 percent of all declines from 2008 to 2013. Traffic losses were observed for both lower- and higher-income households.
A weakened economy factors into the visit declines but the NPD report also finds that there are other barriers limiting families from dining out and among them are value for the money and restaurant environment. The age of the child plays a role in which barriers inhibit families with kids’ restaurant visits.
“In order to bring back parties with kids to the restaurant table, operators and manufacturers need to understand what influences and motivates them to visit,” says Bonnie Riggs, NPD foodservice industry analyst. “They need to keep in mind that kids are also an important audience since they have considerable influence on restaurant selections.”
About The NPD Group, Inc.:
The NPD Group provides global information and advisory services to drive better business decisions. By combining unique data assets with unmatched industry expertise, we help our clients track their markets, understand consumers and drive profitable growth. Sectors covered include automotive, beauty, consumer electronics, entertainment, fashion, food / foodservice, home, luxury, mobile, office supplies, sports, technology, toys and video games. For more information, visit www.npdgroup.ca and npdgroupblog.com. Follow us on Twitter: @npdgroup.
Source: The NPD Group, Inc.