Consumer Behavior

Restaurant reopenings, Mother's Day drive transaction boost

Photo by istock.com

May 19, 2020

A combination of a holiday, Mother's Day and the reopening of restaurants and bars is proving to be beneficial to U.S. restaurant chain transactions.

As of the week of May 10, many states began reopening shuttered eateries, allowing on-premise and in-house dining after more than two months of closures.

U.S. restaurant chain transaction declines are showing improvement for the fourth straight week, according to The NPD Group, and celebrating Mother's Day also played a role.

Total restaurant customer transactions were down 23% compared to a 26% decline the prior week, according to a press release on the data.

Full-service restaurants benefited from Mother’s Day, boosting transaction declines by 39%, yet still down 58% compared to a year ago.

Transactions at QSRs declined by 21% in the week ending May 10 compared to a 24% decrease prior week. 

"Permanent restaurant closures, economically distressed consumers, and the possibility of a second wave of virus cases still bring uncertainty; but at least for now, the recent run of weekly gains is encouraging," said David Portalatin, NPD food industry advisor and author of Eating Patterns in America, in the release. "The road back will be challenging and slow, but we're headed in the right direction."