The number of available restaurant apps in the casual-dining segment continues to grow as does adoption among all age groups, according to a new study by Market Force Information.
In 2018, 54 percent of consumers surveyed said they downloaded a restaurant app, a 13 percent increase from 2016 when just 41 percent had done so. Of these, restaurant-branded apps are the most downloaded, followed by Groupon, Yelp and Grubhub. Two-thirds of consumers polled use the apps to view the menu, 59 percent use apps to find discounts and 54 percent use apps to place orders.
Tabletop tablet adoption in casual-dining restaurants remains lackluster despite guest willingness to use them. Fifty-four percent (down 4 percent from 2017) said they were given a restaurant-owned tablet while dining in 2018, and 90 percent of those used it. Just one-fifth, though, said using tablets made the dining experience more enjoyable. The majority used tablets to pay the bill, look at the menu or play games. Few used the tablets to place an order.