Restaurant News Roundup: August 2017

August was filled with plenty of newsworthy restaurant industry topics. It was hard to narrow it down to just a few but we think you’ll enjoy our choices. Below is our Restaurant Industry News Roundup, a recap of the news you need that hit the wire this month.

Restaurants are Trying to Reinvent Food Ordering with Fun, Effortless Technology

Companies such as TGI Fridays and Papa John’s continue to implement new technology, enlisting Facebook and Amazon to help them get ahead in the never-ending race to meet consumers where they are. Papa John’s began accepting orders on Facebook in June and it was an instant hit. TGI Fridays has turned to partnerships with both Facebook and Amazon to drive online orders. “It’s about creating that dialogue and relationship with the younger customer,” said TGI Fridays Chief Marketing Office Stephanie Perdue. Read the full story here.

KFC Brings Back the Colonel – The Real One

The fried-chicken chain has spent the past couple of years using a series of actors to play its iconic founder but now the company is featuring old video of the original Sanders in modern-day ads. The original Colonel stopped appearing in ads in the 1970s so KFC is utilizing technology to bring him into the 21^st century. Read the full story here.

Few Winners in a Tough Quarter for Restaurants

Some of the restaurant industry’s publicly traded companies average of same-store sales fell 0.1 percent in the period, based on a NRN analysis of same-store sales in companies’ most recent earnings period. Of the 69 chains that have reported same-store sales, 37 reported declines – over 50%. Take a look at which chains were winners and which ones fell short here.

To Survive in Tough times, Restaurants Turn to Data-Mining

Both start-ups and established companies are looking to deliver real time data on sales, customers, staff performance, or competitors by merging the information that restaurants are already tracking with their guest management systems, social media, tracking and more. Before technology, restaurateurs used ledgers to track their sales and seldom took notes about their customers’ preferences. Now restaurateurs can leverage new technology to build relationships with customers. Read the full story here.

Study Shows ‘Anytime Eaters’ Here to Stay: Are You Ready?

Snacking and “small bites” are not only popular at sit-down restaurants, but also have become a standard option on menu boards of popular takeout chains and quick service restaurants. For some consumers, particularly millennials, are eating less but more often and traditional mealtimes are less important than the convenience of grabbing good on the go. Breakfast all day, a now common feature in the industry, is a way to cater to millennials that do not follow traditional meal times. Read the full story here.

What Gen X Consumers Want From Restaurants

Restauranteurs and operators have spent a lot of time monitoring and listening to Millennials and Baby Boomers, while largely overlooking Generation X. NPD officials advised that more attention should be paid to Gen X, consumers ages 36 to 52. Gen X represents 20 percent of the population and about 22 percent of restaurant dollars and 23 percent of restaurant traffic. Operators will need to dig deep to understand what is important to Gen X so they can address those needs. See how Nekter Juice Bar and Which Wich target Generation X here.

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About the Author

Chrisea Chosta is QSR’s Public Relations & Communications Manager. Chrisea graduated from Western Kentucky University and works to secure ongoing press opportunities as well as strategic development and executing trade shows and related events for QSR. In her spare time, you can find her spending time with family, her chocolate lab, and aimlessly walking down every aisle of Target.