How Quick-Serve Restaurants in the US Can Thrive In the Next Normal

A. Low-Touch Customer Experience

Any plan built for responding to the COVID crisis should be built on low-touch customer experience- optimized on both off-premises as well as on-premises.

B. Regain Market Traction with Sentiment Marketing

We all have faced an unprecedented challenging time that has hit people badly. Customers are in panic, concerned, and confused to respond to the post-crisis situation. At this sensitive time, during and post-pandemic climate, restaurant marketers will need to work on marketing tile that cooks well with the guest’s sentiment.

C. Employ Key Strategies to Rethink the New Normal

Do not resume the restaurant operations the same old-school way you did before. Rethink, redesign, and reinvent to respond to the next normal. Touchpoints you can work on-

• Work on the menu by including food items such as green-leaf proteins, low-carb food, paleo diets, etc.
• Be agile to adapt and sustain the changing customer needs, preferences, and market trends.
• Redesign the customer journey and every point of interaction, and address their needs by identifying their behavior.
• Enhance the digital experience by deep personalization in online food ordering and delivery, pricing and promotions, etc.

D. Tailor Your Approach to Customer Segmentation

You can use the above marketing strategies by segmenting your customers on the following levels and reactivating them by sending personalized in-app notifications, offer messages, emails, and other marketing levers.

• Loyal guests who were your customers before the crisis.
• People who became your first-time customers during the crisis.
• Customers who are enticed by offers and prefer to spend on multiple channels.
• Potential customers who can more likely be your customers.

The Big Picture…

The post-pandemic crisis and the shift in changing the order and consuming behavior in the food and restaurant industry will continue for a long period. Enhancing the digital experience by equipping time-sensitive features in the online food ordering app has become crucial to retaining customers and capturing leads not just during the pandemic but also long after the recovery.