LongHorn Steakhouse and Texas Roadhouse Taste Victory Among Restaurants, While Chick-fil-A Leads Fast Food for 10th Straight Year, ACSI Data Show
June 25 2024 - 7:01AM
Business Wire
Restaurants may be having their biggest year yet, but inflation
is making dining decisions much more complicated.
Although customer satisfaction with fast food restaurants is up
1% to a score of 79 (out of 100) and up 4% to 84 for full-service
restaurants, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index
(ACSI®) Restaurant and Food Delivery Study 2024, households earning
less than $75,000 a year are reducing their restaurant visits
because of rising prices.
“Both full-service and fast food restaurant customers are
skewing a bit more toward higher income levels and college
graduates,” says Forrest Morgeson, Associate Professor of Marketing
at Michigan State University and Director of Research Emeritus at
the ACSI. “Customers are being forced to make decisions between
groceries and restaurants, with full-service restaurant inflation
about two times that of groceries in the past year and fast food
and fast casual restaurants prices up three times the rate of
groceries. With customers seemingly viewing dining out a luxury,
restaurants that can differentiate themselves in terms of quality
and value will have a competitive advantage.”
‘Well done’ to LongHorn Steakhouse and Texas Roadhouse, the
new restaurant champs
ACSI results again show consumer preferences for steaks as
LongHorn Steakhouse and Texas Roadhouse both climb 4% to 85, tying
for the top spot among full-service restaurants (and restaurants
overall).
The former shows its commitment to customer satisfaction by
running counter to the “shrinkflation” trend and providing more
bang for the customer’s buck, while striving to maintain a cultured
dedicated to quality. Meanwhile, despite inflation, Texas Roadhouse
is keen on keeping prices low and investing heavily in
staffing.
Olive Garden is next among major chains, up 4% to 83. Chili’s
also improves 4% to 80. The chain benefits from a combination of
high perceived value through its “3 for Me” menu and service
strength through employee retention.
Last year’s category leader, Outback Steakhouse, slips 4% to 80.
Outback appears to be challenged by a slowdown in spending by
lower-income consumers consistent with ACSI findings regarding
their customers’ price sensitivity. Meanwhile, IHOP soars 8% to 78.
Customers are responding favorably to menu changes that offer more
variety.
Denny’s and Red Robin share last place, slipping 1% each to
76.
Customers indicate better performance across most aspects of the
full-service restaurant experience — with food order accuracy (92)
and waitstaff courtesy and helpfulness (90) leading the way —
appreciating restaurants’ efforts to satisfy customers despite
inflation. Providing an outstanding customer experience will be
even more critical for consumers feeling pressured to cut back on
discretionary spending.
Chick-fil-A still rules the fast food roost
Chick-fil-A drops 2% to an ACSI score of 83 but still leads
among individual fast food chains for the tenth consecutive year.
This long-term success is reflected in revenue, as the chain’s
non-mall locations averaged $9.4 million in revenue in 2023 (more
than double that of McDonald’s while being open one day less per
week).
KFC finishes second at 81 (unchanged), appearing to hold on to
highly loyal customers as competitors cut into its domestic market
share. There is a four-way tie for third place at 80 between ACSI
newcomer Culver’s, Panera Bread (up 5%), Arby’s (up 4%), and
Starbucks (up 3%). Culver’s continues to open locations at a
consistent rate while also growing revenue per location.
Despite being well behind the leaders, Sonic makes the biggest
leap in the industry, surging 6% to an ACSI score of 76, same as
Wendy’s, up 3%.
After slumping 1% and 3%, respectively, Jack in the Box and
Popeyes fall toward the bottom at 72. Meanwhile, McDonald’s remains
in last place even after improving 3% to an ACSI score of 71.
Order accuracy (86), mobile quality (86), and mobile reliability
(85) receive high scores as improving technology may be increasing
accuracy in filling customer orders. In fact, mobile quality for
fast food restaurants tops that of full-service chains. Fast food
restaurants also receive high benchmarks for staff courtesy and
both food and beverage quality (all 84), although sit-down chains
outperform fast food on these measures.
Food delivery debuts with less than stellar results
The food delivery industry debuts in the ACSI with a score of 73
— significantly lower than both full-service restaurants and fast
food restaurants.
The group of smaller food delivery services outpaces major
competitors with a score of 79. Uber Eats, at 74, edges out the
other reported brands, DoorDash (73) and Grubhub (71).
Customers give the highest ratings to the mobile apps (82) and
websites (81) used to place orders. The cost of food delivery is a
concern in terms of the fairness of food prices (69) and pre-tip
taxes and service fees (69).
The ACSI Restaurant and Food Delivery Study 2024 is based on
14,604 completed surveys. Customers were chosen at random and
contacted via email between April 2023 and March 2024 for the
restaurant industries and between November 2023 and March 2024 for
food delivery. Download the study, and follow the ACSI on LinkedIn
and X at @theACSI.
No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the data
and information in this release without the express prior written
consent of ACSI LLC.
About the ACSI
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) has been a
national economic indicator for over 25 years. It measures and
analyzes customer satisfaction with approximately 400 companies in
about 40 industries and 10 economic sectors, including various
services of federal and local government agencies. Reported on a
scale of 0 to 100, scores are based on data from roughly 200,000
responses annually. For more information, visit
www.theacsi.org.
ACSI and its logo are Registered Marks of American Customer
Satisfaction Index LLC.
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Denise DiMeglio 610-228-2102 denise@gregoryfca.com