What will Restaurants look like after Covid?

Covid-19 showed many people's daily activities for granted until they are no longer an
alternative – just like dining out in a restaurant.

This pandemic has startled the restaurant industry and revealed just how penetrating it isn't. More
than 70,000 restaurants in the U.S. have faced challenges and are permanently closed. The
restaurants had to immediately pivot to curbside delivery and pickup and enhance their menus
and staffing in hopes of staying afloat. Several months with this pandemic showed us how the
restaurant industry would permanently change by Covid-19. In countless cases, this pandemic
gives restaurants a chance to find new, innovative, creative ways to serve their customers.

Five main changes expose how restaurants adjust to the Covid-19 era and enhance customer
experience.

Focus on Health and Safety. Restaurant businesses always had to pass through health
inspections; however, they must double their efforts and focus on cleanliness and health.
According to Zagat's Future of Dining Study, they found out that 3 in 4 diners say that health and
safety concerns are their most significant obstacle to dining out in person. Diners are finding
restaurants to be transparent about the cleanliness procedures so that restaurants may use clear
optics to keep their diners safe.

Customers are trying to find disposable silverware, single-use menus, sanitized table signs,
employees wearing face masks, and hand sanitizing stations. Even the way the serving of food
will also be affected, with diners that prefer pre-packaged meals or individual rather than family-
style dining. The restaurant industry must focus on training employees in new procedures,
investing in cleaning supplies, and signage and marketing to inform diners of the new guidelines.

They increased Digital Offerings. Food Industries such as restaurants encounter rapid digital
accelerations. Since the pandemic, restaurants with a powerful digital presence, including a
robust digital loyalty program and easy mobile or online ordering, have increased customer
engagement. Several signs point to consumers that are engaged digitally after the pandemic.
Restaurants continue to move toward frictionless payment and placement of orders of and grow
in online and mobile orders for delivery and pickup.
Even within the restaurants, customers will order their food through tablets or kiosks to minimize
their exposure to the workers and payment devices. The restaurant industry is open for
Technological innovation - anything from digital menus to tableside orders guest engagements
apps that will change the dining experience to complement new customer trends. Somehow, to
adapt to these trends, restaurants must finance new technology, which may be expensive—
preserving the safety of employees and customers and being relevant. However, this might be a
necessary cost for the post-Covid-19 restaurants.

Creative and Changed Menus. Apart from the actual dining experience, Covid-19 has affected
the restaurants' supply chains and made it hard for some restaurants to source their typical
ingredients. In the middle of the pandemic's peak, restaurants trimmed their menus to their best-
selling items and re-evaluated their original menu options. Restaurants are turning to more
innovative uses and local ingredients for the same components. Menu items are shifting to
smaller portions that are less costly for diners during strange economic times and are not as time-
consuming to eat, making a fast dining experience at the same time less exposure.

Offerings of restaurants also change to incorporate non-traditional options. 38% of the customers
ordered non-traditional delivery items from restaurants such as alcoholic beverages and meal
kits, and 59% will continue to do so after the pandemic based on Zagat's survey. Restaurants
innovating their offers beyond their standard menu items can tap into a new group of consumers
who want the restaurant experience uniquely.

Push for Takeout and Delivery. Orders taken out increased rapidly during the pandemic and
didn't show any decreased signs. Before Covid-19, 69% of customers preferred ordered delivery;
however that number has risen to a staggering 88% during the pandemic. For some customers
who are not ready to dine in person, 82% will still order for delivery or takeout from a restaurant.
Diners had meals delivered in their homes for months and now may be less inclined to leave
their houses to eat in a restaurant, even though it is safe. In addition, with more delivery options
than ever before, customers choose to select restaurants that don't offer a smooth experience.
Many restaurants have already partnered with third-party delivery companies and initiated
physical measures, including drive-thru lanes for picking up mobile and online orders. A
significant boost for restaurants is dedicating resources and space for delivery and pick up.
 Change Physical Spaces. Restaurants will have to change their inner spaces if more
customers choose takeout and delivery options. For quite some time, guidelines such as social
distancing may stick around, causing restaurants to make permanent changes with the number of
people who can dine in inside at once, seeing fewer tables spread out throughout the restaurants'
interior and open seating and less bar. With the growth in delivery and takeout orders, many
restaurants are reducing the footprint of their dining room open space for cooking and preparing
orders. Also, restaurants switch to a ghost kitchen model, using their kitchen to prepare food for
pick up and delivery without the presence of a physical dining room.

Outside, restaurants increase their dining options and convert them to grassy areas and streets to
outside dining pavilions. Outdoor dining is a significant factor in diners returning to in-person
restaurants and starting as random picnic tables in the parking lots that turn into permanent
fixtures of restaurants. When the weather cools, restaurants will search for creative solutions to
maintain outdoor dining as long as comfortable ways for customers and employees.

Covid-19 shows that the restaurant industry can't stay lethargic; they must continually find ways
to enhance and innovate their service, experience, and menu. They must remain in tune with the
things that matter to the customers and alter their experiences accordingly, including incetives,
digital payment, ordering, and lowering the menu prices. The post-Covid-19 world often means
financing new supplies, training employees, and physical upgrades, and those costs can be a
charge to long-term success, and restaurants can't afford not to change. Restaurants should stay
alert in everything from their staff to their supply chain. Focus on cleaning and delivering a
trustworthy, reliable experience that will keep customers coming back long after the pandemic is
finally over.

Morgan, B. (2021, Jan 7). What will the restaurant look like after Covid?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2021/01/07/what-will-restaurants-look-like-
after-covid/?sh=29b98f411acb