NRA: 63% of adults plan to eat out during holidays

Dive Brief:

Over the next few weeks, two-thirds of adults plan to eat out while 48% said they plan to order takeout or delivery, per a survey from the National Restaurant Association released Wednesday.
When it comes to take out, 66% of consumers said they would order an entire meal while 89% said they would order a main course, sides (86%), appetizers (74%) or dessert (63%), according to the association’s survey of 1,010 adults in the U.S.
Takeout and delivery remain “critical components of the guest experience” across all demographics, Michelle Korsmo, National Restaurant Association president and CEO said in a statement.

Dive Insight:

While all generations continue to turn to restaurants for their meals at home, there are generational divides on how and why consumers are eating out. The association found that 82% of millennials take into account takeout and delivery options when choosing a restaurant compared to 53% of baby boomers.

Millennials (75%) are more likely to use a restaurant over the holidays to avoid grocery stores during busy times compared to 65% of Gen Z and 57% of baby boomers. However, baby boomers at 72% were the least likely to order from a restaurant during the holidays while 86% of Gen Z consumers said they would likely dine in or order takeout.

Thanksgiving already proved to be a busier time for independent restaurants, which saw a 5.8% increase in the number of transactions and an 8.2% in sales on Thanksgiving compared to 2022, according to SpotOn data emailed to Restaurant Dive. Average checks for SpotOn’s restaurant clients were up over 2%. The company also noted over 1,000 Christmas menu items were added to independent restaurant menus between Nov. 19 and 28. Most of these (52%) were beverages.

Consumers are also expected to tip more during the holidays, according to a survey of over 2,000 adults conducted by The Harris Poll commissioned by DailyPay. About two-thirds of Americans said they plan to give bigger tips during the holiday season compared to the rest of the year, according to the report emailed to Restaurant Dive.