News & Media

If you’re planning a special evening out with friends and family, are you one of the people that check the restaurant’s social media pages before visiting? 

The above is getting more and more popular with customers and new research shows that two-thirds of people now check a restaurant’s social media before eating out. 

You might assume that the bulk of the figure that dedicates time to examining restaurant’s social media is millennials and younger persons but the research by HGEM show that all age groups are guilty: 58 per cent of millennials and 53 per cent of 56 to 65 year olds follow the behaviour.

Why do people visit a restaurant’s social media page? 

It’s simple, customers check the social media pages to look for offers and promotions more than anything else. Other reasons include looking at photos of the interior, upcoming events and competitions that are currently being run. 

On the whole, social media creates a general impression of an establishment, the happiness of its customers and gives visitors the latest offers and promotions. That’s why so many people find it necessary to scout it before making a visit.

Getting customer feedback from social media

It’s long been known that social media is a powerful way of managing customer feedback and adding to the customer experience, but the result of the survey show just how big a role social media plays in driving diners to a restaurant.

Getting your restaurant's social media landing page right

To have a favourable social media page, restaurants must firstly ensure that their channels are all active and regularly updated. If you visit a restaurant’s Facebook page and there hasn’t been a post for over two years, what does that tell you about the establishment? 

Posting as a business on social media

Posts then need to be engaging and content must match with the needs of the audience. Restaurants are now required to communicate with their customers in the same way that they would in the restaurant to extend the customer experience. A massive 34 per cent of the public deem social media interactions to be an equally important part of the guest experience as on-site conversations. 

Instagram worthy décor tips for restaurants 

Once the customers are in your restaurant and eating there meals, you want them to share posts, check-in and upload photos of your restaurant. It’s the modern word of mouth. To benefit from this, you need to make it as easy as possible for them by having an open public WiFi on site. 

To increase the likelihood of posts being made about your restaurant, you need to make your décor Instagram worthy. It’s not all about the food. If the setting is right, you’ll be awash with notifications of being tagged in pictures. 

Trent Furniture has a range of restaurant chairs and tables that improve the overall décor. 

If there wasn’t already enough reason for pub owners to add food to their offerings, new research into the pub industry has shown that there has been a higher growth in sales of food between 2012 and 2016 than in drink. 

The research by Mintel shows that food sales in pubs demonstrated a 14 per cent growth in the four years, reaching £7.4 billion. Other areas such as alcoholic drink sales and soft drinks also showed growth of six per cent and seven per cent respectively, but the dominance of food’s growth shows the importance of it in the industry. 

The research also shows that food is, for most, the reasoning behind visiting a pub. 89 per cent of Brits say that they typically visit a pub or bar to eat, whilst 79 per cent visit to go for a drink. 

Is your pub losing out?

Operators are missing out on a large market by not offering food and its importance is continuing to grow. Overall, in an industry that saw turnover grow to £23.8 billion in 2016, alcoholic drinks make up 50 per cent of sales and catering brings in 31 per cent. 

Whilst having the option of food is arguably the most important thing for pubs, ensuring that is high quality is what will truly attract customers. In 2017, nearly one-third of consumers said they had visited a pub in the past month because of the high quality, a rise from 23 per cent just the year before.

69 per cent of pub goers claim that one of the most important factors when choosing which pub to go to is high quality food. If you are going to commit to cooking food in your pub, it must be done to a high standard to appease customers. 

Adding food to a pub

If you’re looking to introduce food to your pub’s offering, you may need to invest in more seating and tables to cater for the guests. Whilst with drinking, visitors can get by with standing and perching on a stool. The same cannot be said for eating. 

At Trent Furniture we have a section of our website dedicated to furniture for pubs. Browse our pub furniture and pick out a selection of seating and tables that match the décor that you are aiming for.