The coronavirus pandemic has gone on to affect nearly all the major aspects of our lives – the way in which we live, how we go out, how we interact with other people – and of course, how we conduct our daily lives so as to protect against the harmful nature of the virus. While many businesses have been severely affected by the dangers that have been posed by the virus, other haven’t been too misfortunate : the list of course including the likes of Amazon.
Of course while the pandemic hasn’t been too harsh on companies such as Amazon, the list is not just limited to the online retail giant. Indeed a whole industry in the fast food industry has been on the rise – with some of the world’s major fast food players seeing the light of day even in these circumstances.
In a country such as the United States where the low-ranking GDP has gone on to make rounds of news, fast food giants such as McDonald’s, Dunkin’, Starbucks and several others have gone on to report very decent earnings in recent times. Not only do the earnings represent major successes for such brands and the fast food industry as a whole, but it also goes on to suggest just how much we’ve changed our daily routines. But then again, while it is apparent that such brands have been turning a major profit, how exactly have our habits changed to suggest the same? Well, here we’ll have a look at some of the ways with which consumer behavior has changed as a direct consequence of the pandemic.
More is now being spent
It has indeed been suggested in recent times that more and more people are now actually spending more and more money on fast food as people now seem to be buying lots more food in just a single order. Indeed these companies have gone on to note that while cheaper individuals items may not be selling as much as before, the lack in sales in this particular department is largely offset by big orders such as family-sized ones.
The concept of drive-thrus is now more relevant than ever
As more and more people get more and more conscious over the issues that associate themselves with the virus, the shift to a “contactless” experience is now much more relevant than ever as more and more people become aware of the dangers associated with the human touch.
Indeed the prime example seems to stem from McDonald’s. The company proceeded on to claim that in and around 90% of its total sales in the US have been via its drive-thru lanes and that the markets which have a lot of drive-thru locations also seem to he recovering faster in comparison to those who haven’t been blessed with the same facilities.
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Digital sales are now more apparent than ever
Digital orders that make their way courtesy of third-party services such as Uber Eats or Foodpanda or indeed through the chains’ very own apps have also grown substantially in the quarter. It seems that all the major fast food players have experienced success on the digital side of things as most of them have reported a spike in digital sales.
Of course the rise in digital sales does not in fact make up for the loss that breakfast-centered chains such as Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks have seen. Indeed the deep decline in revenue for these entities is due to a direct consequence of the fact that people aren’t stopping by nearly as much in the mornings due to the fact that many have adopted a work-from-home policy. Nonetheless though, it isn’t as if such chains haven’t seen a rise in digital sales – as they too continue to make progress within the area.
Breakfast revenue lost might be too bad after all
Due to the fact that people are now more and more attracted as well as adept towards the proposition of working from home, late-nights and late mornings now dominate the daily routines of many. And so while people might not be stopping in earlier in the day, they might still pop in a bit later.
Indeed while the time for breakfast in fast food chains such as McDonald’s is limited to certain hours, other places such as Dunkin Donuts don’t exactly follow the same set of rules – which is why therefore it has been reported by such entities that spikes in traffic are now seen at times later than those once found. Indeed as a result, as the hike in the number of customers with respect to the time has changed, so have the shifts that are addressed to employees.
Conclusion : what does the future hold?
While we’re still amongst the pandemic as it continues to be a major threat to both the world healthcare as well as the world economy, it is only likely that we’ll soon return to a world where everything is yet again normal.
But with what said, even when normality is achieved, one would have to imagine that some of the routines as well as some of trends that have been set forth during this time will be continued. Amongst many other things of course, this especially becomes relevant when taking into consideration the reliance that people now seem to be practicing on digital ordering.
