I’m a huge fan of the Food Network. I love to cook. I love to grill. I love experimenting with new recipes. One of the more entertaining shows on the Food Network is called Restaurant Impossible. The premise of this show is about a chef named Robert Irvine, who always reminds me of NFL Referee Ed Hochuli due to them both wearing tight fitted shirts that show off their guns. (Let’s be real, if I was a walking gun show, I’d probably buy my shirts 2 sizes too small too.)
Chef Irvine goes into a failing restaurant and has 48 hours and $10,000 to turn it around. A majority of the show is spent fixing the operational and aesthetic aspects of the restaurant and the menu. However, there’s always a 5-10 minute segment focused on marketing. Chef Irvine always needs to find a way to generate buzz and bring customers to the grand re-opening of the restaurant. In marketing terms, he’s focused on “push marketing.”
I have a handful of friends in the restaurant business and they’re always looking for ways to attract more patrons. They all share a similar sentiment: If I can just get them to try my food, I think they’ll come back. Here are a number of very cool stats published in a collaborative study titled “The Mobile Path to Purchase” by Telemetrics, xAds, and Nielsen. These are some rather convincing numbers. Especially since I my own behavior seems to fit right into these statistics. I hope this helps all you restauranteurs:
- 89 percent of smartphone owners and 84 percent of tablet users have immediate purchase intent and take action within 24 hours of their research. (that’s not a typo. 89%!)
- 64 percent of smartphone and 44 percent of tablet users in Restaurants make a decision within an hour.
- 84 percent of mobile users had looked for a business location or maps and driving directions in the past month.
- Smartphone local directory apps are most popular for Restaurant (53 percent)
- 75% of smartphone users seek restaurant info while on the go and over 50% of that activity is happening in a car.
- 65% of smartphone users look for restaurants within local walking or driving distance.
Bottom line: get your business on google maps/local apps, yelp, urbanspoon, and other social directories. We can help you get there.
Here’s an infograph for you to enjoy with more data: http://www.telmetrics.com/mobile-path-to-purchase-study-restaurant-searchers/