Restaurant And Hospitality News – February 1, 2016
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
In news this week, weekday quick-service restaurant traffic grows in 2015; Wendy’s is investigating a possible data breach; and 5 tips to help hotels boost online reservation conversions.
Weekday Quick-Service Restaurant Traffic Grows
New data from global market research firm the NPD Group demonstrates that total weekday restaurant traffic rose 3 percent in the year ending November 2015, following two consecutive years of no growth, the Nation’s Restaurant News reported. The only segment to show traffic growth was quick service. Meanwhile, total weekend restaurant traffic decline 3 percent for the same period, continuing a decrease begun in 2014. One apparent cause of the increase in weekday traffic is the improving employment landscape coupled with gas prices at a six-year low. “Now that they have a little more money in their pockets, they can do it a little easier than before,” NPD analyst Bonnie Riggs said. “They’re willing to spend it at QSRs.”
The demand for convenience is also underscored by the increase in carryout and drive-thru orders industrywide, which rose 1 percent and 2 percent respectively for 2015. According to the data, demand is particularly high at quick-service restaurants, with a 5 percent increase in carryout orders during weekday dinner service; 2 percent increase in drive-thru orders; and a 9 percent increase in delivery. Fewer customers were choosing to dine-in during weekdays in 2015 as well.
By segment, quick-service hamburger brands saw just a 1 percent increase in weekday traffic, while the other sandwich category, Mexican, and bakery sandwich categories each grew by 9 percent. Pizza traffic rose 5 percent, driving by a few major chains.
Wendy’s Investigates Possible Data Breach
Wendy’s, the nationwide chain of fast-food restaurants, has reported that it is investigating claims of a possible point-of sale credit card breach at some of its locations, following questions from KrebsOnSEcurity regarding a pattern of fraud on cards used at various Wendy’s locations. According to Wendy’s spokesperson Bob Bertini, the company has hired a security firm to investigate. “We have received this month from our payment industry contacts reports of unusual activity involving payment cards at some of our restaurant locations. Reports indicate that fraudulent charges may have occurred elsewhere after the cards were legitimately used at some of our restaurants. We’ve hired a cybersecurity firm and launched a comprehensive and active investigation that’s underway to try to determine the facts.” No details have been released regarding how many stores or cards were affected, and Bertini said it was too soon to say whether or not the incident has been contained. Wendy’s operates approximately 6,500 franchise and company-operated restaurants across the United States and the world.
In a statement emailed to EWEEK, Wendy’s officials stated, “WE have been working with our payment industry contacts since recently learning of these reports and we have launched a comprehensive investigation with the help of cyber-security experts to gather facts, while working to protect our customers. We also are fully cooperating with law enforcement authorities.”
Wendy’s joins a growing list of restaurants that have been targeted by breaches, including P.F. Chang’s, Chick-fil-A, and Jimmy Johns. "Point-of-sale systems are the weakest link in many retail companies, so a breach at Wendy's isn't particularly surprising," Tod Beardsley, security research manager at Rapid 7, told eWEEK. He said that POS systems are frequently running out-of-date operating systems and often use shared passwords across systems. Often they are not integrated with the normal IT security controls, existing in a sweet spot of ‘vulnerable’ and ‘valuable’ from the perspective of attackers, why is why breaches are so common. “Retail organizations that have the most to lose from a breach should be empowered to have some serious conversations with their POS vendors to make sure that the fundamentals of security are solved in the short term,” Beardsley said.
Five Ways To Improve Direct Online Booking Conversions In 2016
This article from ehotelier.com highlights five important ways that hotels can boost their direct online booking conversions this year. According to the article, hotel marketing teams are increasingly investing in digital advertising campaigns to drive traffic directly to their websites, but the average abandonment rate remains at 77 percent, which means hotels have a lot of room for improvement. Hotel marketers can do more to decrease the number of customers who abandon the site before purchasing and to increase the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns to re-engage abandoned visitors. The articles suggest five specific ways to improve conversions through their direct online sales channel:
- Be upfront about hidden costs and don’t get greedy with administration fees.
- Make sure the message and content displayed is seasonally appropriate.
- Use on-site re-engagement notifications to highlight existing information the customer might have missed.
- Avoid oversaturating your abandoned visitors with display ads.
- Email re-market with exclusive offers to re-engage.
Ultimately, the success of a hotel in winning guests will be based on the effectiveness of its online marketing team. The winners will be those who consistently look for ways to ensure great online experiences for their customers and do everything possible to keep their hotel at the forefront of the traveler’s decision-making process.