Customers continue to choose pubs over restaurants - has dining out had its day?

by XPRESS, 18 October 2018

The pub and bar sector continued to outperform restaurants and casual dining in driving positive social reviews during September, according to Feed It Back’s latest monthly social review tracker.

The statistics, which were taken from thousands of social reviews across the restaurant, quick-service restaurant and pub industries, revealed the pub and bar sector’s average social review score rose from 4.1 out of 5.0 in August, to 4.2 in September. Meanwhile, the average score for the restaurant and casual dining sectors remained flat at 4.0.

TripAdvisor scores, which moved from an average of 3.9 to 4.0, drove positive reviews for pubs and bars in September, while Google reviews remained flat at 4.2. Facebook moved from 4.3 to 4.4, driven in part by its polarised methodology change last month. In the restaurant and casual dining sectors, TripAdvisor scores stayed at 3.9, with Google also flat at 4.0 and Facebook reviews seeing a positive spike from 4.1 in August to 4.3 in September, again influenced by the methodology change.

Across all sectors, Google remained the most prominent channel for feedback with 59% of all social reviews submitted via this platform in September (up from 56% in August).

TripAdvisor accounted for 32% of reviews (down from 34% in August) and Facebook just 9% (down from 10% in August).

The data revealed time was a key determining factor across all sectors in both positive and negative reviews. In particular, allowing guests time to enjoy their meal without being rushed was a key driver in positive reviews, while waiting times continued to drive negative reviews across all sectors.

Feed It Back chief executive Carlo Platia said: “The data clearly reveals pubs and bars are winning the battle with restaurants and casual dining outlets to create positive dining experiences.

Google reviews remain the most prominent channel for feedback, a statistic that surprises many operators who focus the lion’s share of their attention on TripAdvisor and, in doing so, miss out on a wealth of vital insight about their business.

Elsewhere, last month’s Facebook algorithm change has continued to have an impact on results on the platform.

It will be fascinating to see how these numbers fluctuate and have an impact on Facebook’s percentage of reviews as it looks to grow its presence with location-based prompts.”

Article credit: Propel info