Study: U.S. quick-service restaurant traffic growth stalls in 2016
Visits to full-service restaurants, which combined represent 20% of total industry traffic, declined last year.
As goes the U.S. quick-service restaurant (QSR) segment, so goes the total foodservice industry. QSRs, which represent 80% of total commercial foodservice visits, realized no traffic growth in 2016 and total foodservice traffic dipped slightly, according to a report published by The NPD Group, Chicago. The study, “Foodservice Market Research & Business Solutions,” also shows that visits to full-service restaurants, which combined represent 20% of total industry traffic, declined last year.
Visit declines at lunch, which represents the largest daypart in terms of traffic share, was a major contributor to the U.S. foodservice industry’s traffic slump in 2016. Lunch visits declined by 2% at QSRs and all other foodservice outlets. Among the reasons lunch traffic is down are a smaller labor force participation rate, increase in number of employees working from home and more consumers shopping online and not grabbing a meal while they’re out shopping. Weekend, dinner and independent restaurant visit declines also prevented the industry from growing last year.