This report looks at shoppers’ experiences of in-store cafés and restaurants, how much they typically spend and their preferences by retail outlet type. It also shows what would entice people to visit instore cafés and restaurants more frequently. Spoiler alert: lower prices come top of the list but there are other factors that consumers would consider.
This report looks primarily at consumer tastes when visiting the cafés and restaurants situated within shops and supermarkets, whether these be store-owned and managed or concessions.
Survey participants were asked about the following types of retail outlet cafés and restaurants:
- Bookshops
- Clothing stores
- Chain department stores, such as Debenhams and John Lewis
- Garden centres
- Home supplies and DIY stores
- Independent department stores
- Upmarket department stores
- Supermarkets.
Nine questions were asked covering the following topics
- Incidence of eating at an in-store café or restaurant in the past two years
- Changes in in-store eating behaviour
- Frequency of visiting store cafés
- Store cafés and restaurants visited within the last 6 months
- Store cafés and restaurants visited 6 months or longer ago
- Percentage of shoppers consuming drinks, by store type
- Percentage of shoppers consuming cold snacks, by store type
- Percentage of shoppers consuming hot snacks, by store type
- Percentage of shoppers consuming cooked lunch, by store type
- Percentage of shoppers consuming cold lunch, by store type
- Availability and choice
- Information, presentation and food quality
- In-store café effect on shopping behaviour
- In-store café influence on behaviour
- In-store spending on snacks and meals
- Incentives to eat in-store more frequently
- Food outlets chosen on last shopping trip
Additional research has been drawn from a wide range of industry sources and store brand managers.
Methodology
Over 2,000 people in the YouGov online panel were surveyed over the period 26-30 January 2012. The vast majority of these – over eight in ten – had eaten in-store during the last two years.
