Staff Shortages Drive Restaurant Visits, Spend Per Meal Decline

June restaurant purchases were at their lowest volume in over a year as consumers tepidly, and unevenly, increased their discretionary spend.

As noted in proprietary research carried out for PYMNTS’ July “Connected Dining” report, 58% of consumers made restaurant purchases in June. This represented a drop of nine percentage points from May and over seven percentage points from 2023’s previous low in April.

Not only did consumers pull back on how often they visit restaurants in June, but they also spent less when doing so, averaging $24.30 per person. This represented an approximate average $2 per person drop from the previous month and the lowest spending amount for 2023 so far.

Consumers are making clear that the main driver behind these decreased visits is rising menu prices, even as food inflation declines.

Bill Fultz, vice president of global payments point-of-sale company Heartland, told PYMNTS earlier this year that this leaves patrons in an awkward position.

“Consumers are being asked to pay more with less of an experience around it, and we see now that consumers are questioning, ‘Why am I even here? Why am I paying a premium when I’ve got one person trying to serve an entire dining room?’” he said.

Declining service as restaurants cut staff to reduce costs may also be driving down customer loyalty as consumers grow impatient with higher prices accompanying a lower quality of service. Previous PYMNTS research found that 48% of consumers dining out at least three times a week noted a growing gap between a meal’s costs and their satisfaction with it. As a result, 58% of these frequent diners have cut back when leaving tips, which in turn could lead to higher staff turnover and increased customer dissatisfaction.

To break this price dissatisfaction cycle, some restaurants are turning to discounts to lure customers to their locations.

Stacey Pool, chief marketing officer at fast-casual brand Noodles and Company, discussed customers’ daily demand for offers.

“One thing that we found is that most of our members said, ‘We would come more often if we felt like we were getting something every time we come,’ and it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be the same thing every single time,” Pool said. “This was all really driven by what our rewards members were telling us would engage them and would get them to come back more often.”