Consumers Cautiously Returning to On-Premise Establishments

With restaurants and other on-premise retailers allowed to reopen in varying capacities in all 50 states, consumers are tentatively wading back into dining out, according to a survey conducted by Nielsen CGA, the market research firm’s on-premise arm.

Nielsen CGA surveyed consumers from June 5-7 in four states — California, New York, Texas and Florida — where restaurants reopened to varying degrees.

In California, reopening varies by county; in some counties, restaurants can reopen for indoor dining at 60% capacity, but others, such as San Francisco county, are still limited to takeout or delivery. New York state has a similar regional approach with some regions allowing restaurants to open for indoor dining at 50% capacity, but other regions, such as New York City, were still shut down at the time of the survey. Both Texas and Florida had been reopened for more than a month. Masks are required in California and New York, but not Texas or Florida.

Of the 1,600 respondents, 41% had been out to eat or drink in the two weeks leading up to the survey; 30% had been out for a meal and 12% had been out for a drink.

“The actual norm for this, the pre-COVID norm, is around 80% or 81%, so there is still quite some way to go,” Nielsen CGA client solutions director Matt Crompton said. “What is encouraging is we are excited to see that number increase throughout those days and obviously as we know places like New York and California are a bit more restricted than Texas and Florida. When we look at those in a few weeks’ time, we should hopefully see that number rise.”

Younger respondents had gone out to eat at nearly twice the rate of older respondents; 43% of consumers ages 21-34 dined out, but only 22% of those age 55 or older had done so. About a third (29%) of middle-aged respondents (35-54) had gone out to eat. The percentage of those who had gone out for a drink but not a meal for all age groups was significantly lower: 22% of consumers ages 21-34, 12% of consumers ages 35-54 and just 4% of consumers age 55 or older.

“When we look at this by age group — and no huge surprises here — it really is a younger demographic which is driving this, driving the business back into the trade,” Crompton said. “We’re coming up to one in two [consumers ages 21-34 having dined out] and I expect to surpass that very, very soon.”

Floridians (35%) and Texans (40%) have dined out at higher rates than respondents in New York and California. One month ago, just 21% of consumers in Florida and 22% of consumers in Texas had been out. A quarter of respondents in California and 22% of respondents in New York had gone out for a meal.

Although the rates for dining out varied between each state, consumers are going out for only drinks at similar rates: 12% in New York, 13% in California, 12% in Florida and 11% in Texas.

Of those respondents who have gone out, just 20% have gone out only once. The majority — 71% — have gone out between two and five times. Only 2% have gone out more than 10 times.

“As people do feel more comfortable with it, and as outlets adapt to the new surroundings and make consumers feel more comfortable, there’s certainly a desire to go back into the trade,” Crompton said.

The majority of respondents (57%) told Nielsen CGA that nationwide protests against police brutality have not affected their dining behaviors, though 35% of respondents chose not to visit a bar or restaurants because of the protests and 8% chose a different establishment because of them.

Looking ahead to the next two weeks, 35% of respondents said they plan to dine out and 19% plan to go out for a drink. This number varies by state, as just 26% of New Yorkers plan to go out, but 42% and 41% of Texans and Floridians, respectively, are planning to go out.

Demand for takeout and delivery remains strong, as two-thirds of respondents have ordered food to go in the past two weeks. Of those, 14% included alcoholic beverages in their orders.

“These numbers have been pretty consistent throughout the latest reports we’ve been putting out,” Nielsen CGA associate client solutions manager Mitch Stefani said. “While we do see outlets continuing to open up and further moving along in the recovery process, we’re still seeing that people are doing delivery and takeout, so we aren’t seeing this trend going away anytime soon.”

The types of venues that consumers are returning to are varied: 35% told Nielsen CGA they visited a casual dining chain, 30% visited independent restaurants, 20% visited sports bars, 19% visited fine dining restaurants and 11% visited premium bars.

Of consumers who have not returned to on-premise dining and drinking establishments, 45% said they didn’t feel safe being in close proximity to strangers, 42% said they need more time to feel comfortable, 41% said they didn’t feel safe at the moment, 21% are self-isolating, 16% are uncomfortable having other people prepare their meals and drinks, and 15% said financial concerns kept them from going out.

Enhanced unemployment benefits will expire at the end of next month, which could cause the number of people staying in due to financial concerns to spike.

“There’s probably a bit of a polarized count here of people who have actually managed to save quite a lot of money by not going out previously and who are still in work and have still no problems at all with their jobs,” Crompton said. “But then obviously there is completely the other end and the huge unemployment rates we’ve seen, so we will keep an eye on that number.”