Quarter three has shown us slightly more upbeat results, following the first half of the year, although rising inflation has helped mask many negative sales stories. On the whole, the market has been characterised by the three ‘w’s’ – web, weather and the world cup.
Web
Online orders from apps are providing detailed consumer insight for aggregators who are using it to divert customers away from restaurants and into dark kitchens and virtual restaurants. Whilst it’s unlikely that they will ever take over the restaurant sector, there’s implications beyond restaurant operators; it’s likely to increasingly affect retailers with ready meal business.
Weather
The European-style, prolonged hot weather benefitted hotels, leisure operators and pubs, especially those with outdoor gardens, where drink sales boomed. But, restaurants suffered in the long spell of high temperatures, as consumers chose to spend their leisure time outside.
World Cup
Demand always migrates to pubs during the World Cup and England’s prolonged performance led to an extended period of increased sales, particularly wet sales. This was also another contributing factor to the restaurant sector’s poor performance, as consumers opted for pubs rather than restaurants.
Clearly, it’s a mixed bag for the last quarter; for some it has been reasonably positive, for others it hasn’t. If you’d like to know more detail, please give me call on 07785 242809 for a chat and/or a copy of the report.
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