Millennials tend to dine out and order food at the convenience of their homes more frequently than any other generation. It is said that 86% of diners order delivery at least once a month and 87% of Millennials are most satisfied with getting food delivered to their homes. Therefore, if you're looking to increase off-premise revenue - here's your ideal target market.
The millennial audience is three times the size of Generation X and surpasses the generation of Baby Boomers. A study states that the millennial generation has become the major focus for restaurants with 87 million people, aged between 18- 34, or those who are born between the early 80s and the year 2002.
This generation is amongst the largest living adult age group today and are economic leaders with the purchasing power over $1.4 trillion in 2020. They grew up in the era of convenience - self-driving cars, limitless entertainment, food at their doorstep in 30 minutes or less. So, it's safe to state that this generation expects convenience at every stage of the buying process. Restaurants therefore should give due focus towards evolving with these current trends in order to sustain themselves in the market and to stand out among their competitors.
Millennials are digital natives
Millennials are digital natives; Millennials and Gen Z have spent nearly their whole lives surrounded by the world of social media and digital devices. Their curiosity is immense and they are increasingly interested in trying out emerging trends. Over 53% of millennials desire to seek out details and look for unusual things online rather than talk to store staff when they are about to make an order. Everyday there are millions of people constantly searching for food online and consuming knowledge on new trends. In fact, 86% of millennials who come across food-related content online will visit that restaurant in the near future.
This is why an online present is for your restaurant is no longer optional - it's a must. But don't simply limit yourself to an inactive business pages, make sure you continuously promote your eatery online, share images, descriptions, and prices of your food. Use an always-up-to-date digital menu to do this.
Millennials seek peer recommendations
In the early days of marketing, influences were celebrities whose faces were used as the means for commercial advertising. However, nowadays millennial consumers are less likely to engage and respond to the recommendations of celebrities, research indicates that 70% of millennial consumers seek out recommendations from their peers before making a buying decision.
Millennials tend to surf the web for customer reviews before visiting a restaurant on third-party review apps, such as Yelp, and through social media. Therefore, it is important that you build your online review-base and the best way to do this is by increase your digital channel sales. Remember, millennial's values authenticity; so promote an up-to-date and honest digital menu online so customers can phone in their orders and leave you a glowing review at the end of a highly-convenient buying journey.
Pursue unique dining experiences
Creating a unique dining experience for consumers either on-premise or digitally from the time they start navigating through your menu to finishing their plates, will heighten positive emotions and build lasting relationships. Ultimately increasing restaurant sales and building the online reputation of your restaurant.
Today, people are more inclined to trying out food items that are enriched with a backstory they can resonate with. So considering adding intriguing menu descriptions that highlights a nostalgic backstory of your restaurant, this is likely to help increase conversion rates by 55%.
Click here to read our article on the power of great menu descriptions.
Navigating through food menus online and deciding whether to dine out in a typical restaurant is a common thing for millennials. According to the Washington Post, Millennials do not prefer the same sad burger that everyone else is consuming, they always look for excitement and something new. Therefore, ensure you make this discovery process as easy as possible for potential customers, showcase a well-customized food menu that is simple, user-friendly, and easy to navigate.
As mentioned earlier, millennials value choice and are not likely to be happy with a one-size-fits-all menu. So try to keep the menu always current, update food prices, instantly mark food items that are out of stock, and edit food product descriptions when needed.
Millennials are influencing restaurant cuisines
In today's society, millennials value their time, seek out quality dishes and don't mind spending it on a premium meal that is complimented with excellent service. Millennials are rapidly changing dining norms. This generation has in fact, effectively created a new kind of restaurant experience that gives attention to healthy options, local foods, thriftiness, and sustainability.
Millennials are proving to be one of the most sophisticated age groups. They are refraining from cheap, preservative foods that are mixed with fat and sugar, instead they demand much healthier options such as organic, gluten-free menu options or vegan. They have also been able to influence restaurant owners to adapt to sustainability causes, encouraging restaurants to invest in providing locally made food and use energy in efficient ways.
Change of technology, the rise of the coronavirus pandemic and the ever-changing restaurant landscape has all lead way to developing of today's food ordering process. People can now phone in their orders and have their favorite meals delivered right to their doorstep or they could pick up their meals at the restaurant.
Be mindful to reflect these industry evolutions in your digital menu, especially if you wish to bring in the generation with the highest spending power and increase incrementally your customer retention rates.
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