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Food trumps price point in QSRs, fast casuals

ZenMango has released the 2015 Leaky Bucket, a study pinpointing specific, actionable steps brands can take to reduce their "leak." The 2015 study measures why customers won't return to a brand.

July 23, 2015

ZenMango, a marketing and branding consulting team, has released the 2015 Leaky Bucket, a study began in 2008 with the vision of pinpointing specific, actionable steps brands can take to reduce their "leak." The 2015 study measures why customers won't return to a brand.

The restaurant category is showing signs of getting out of the price wars, reveals the study. One in every four customers stated that they are less than 50 percent sure of returning to a restaurant after their experience, according to a press release. The top two reasons for not returning to a restaurant, the study found, are 'price value' (28 percent of respondents) and 'food' (26 percent). The combination of these two indicates food has the most influence on the 'price value' perception of brands, according to the release.

The trend for healthier and better food is evident in the study as 37 percent of respondents reported not returning to QSRs due to food quality. Food beat even speed as well, the study found. Casual Faster and QSRs have significantly higher "leaks" compared with 2011. ZenMango identified significant differences between fast casual brands (Chipotle, Qdoba where the food is prepared ahead of a guest's visit and is assembled based on the guest's personal choice, and the food is better compared to fast food) and Casual Faster brands (brands like Pei Wei, Noodles & Co. where the food is made for the guest after they order at the counter, and is faster compared to casual dining).

This is important to note, ZenMango said, as fast casual brands base square feet on the fast food model but with better food. On the other hand, Casual Faster brands base their square feet on the casual dining food model.

Casual Dining saw the largest positive swing in leaks dropping from 26 percent in 2011 to 22 percent in 2015. This, along with the increase of leak for the Casual Faster category illustrates guests are considering sitting down to enjoy "more service" instead of counter ordering at casual faster places, the company said.

ZenMango will release its '2015 Food Actually' study in August.