COVID-19 ERA AND THE

FUTURE OF RESTAURANTS
 Warm-up
COVID-19 and social-distancing measures have left a number of
consumers’ favorite activities out of reach, such as a night at the movies
or major league sports events. But perhaps most noticeable is the
disappearance of indoor dining. 

What do you think are the biggest challenges food service is facing in
times of the pandemics?

How can these challenges be overcome?

 Contextualizing
COVID-19 and social distancing have changed consumer behavior,
bringing structural changes to the restaurant industry that could last long
after a vaccine is found.

While many unknowns lie ahead for the industry, five trends appear likely
to outlast the pandemic…
Digital and delivery penetration was already gaining momentum before the
pandemic. Now, a transformation that was projected to take years is happening
in just months. “We see total online food delivery—through online delivery
platforms and restaurant self-delivery—of $45 billion in 2020, vs. our prior
estimate of $41 billion in 2021, reaching 13% of the addressable market this
year and 16% by 2022, vs. 2025 in our prior estimate. That means nearly three
years of consumer spend is being pulled forward, led by accelerated growth
from delivery platforms,” says Glass.

Use of these online platforms—known in the industry as third-party delivery

—has surged, thanks to increased mobile app orders. Casual dining-to-go sales
volumes tripled or quadrupled in many cases, as of late April and early May,
often outgrowing a restaurant’s own delivery efforts. This could be a positive
for the industry, since mobile use can result in higher margin, lower friction
transactions and greater retention of customer data.
Working from home may shift how, when and how often consumers
spend on restaurant food. Working from home has risen to roughly
50% during the crisis vs. 15% before, according to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, and is likely to remain elevated even post-
pandemic.

This has broader ramifications. It could mean, for example, lower

demand for weekday breakfast and lunch, as well as coffee away
from home, particularly in densely populated areas. One positive:
Spending on dinner may partially offset those declines, especially if
consumers continue to use off-premises eateries at a higher rate at
both suburb-focused casual diners and traditional fast food.
So, what can restaurants do to keep alived?
1. Clarify new customer needs and desires, and keep adjusting as the situation unfolds.
•Ask yourself what creates value for your customers in these uncertain times. How have their expectations
changed?
•Offer new products/services that respond to new customer problems. (Some of your products may not
change, but others will certainly require modification.)
•To feel comfortable eating out, customers will need to unmistakably see that cleanliness and hygiene are top
priorities in your establishment. Clearly communicate protocols and standards and demonstrate that customer
safety is paramount. You may ask yourself, “How can this be communicated non verbally?” The use of visual
signals can prevent the need for close contact.
•Help customers in their transition back to “normal” life. Reflect on how your team can create a more
hospitable environment and, if needed, address awkward consumer experiences.
•Identify new sales channels (like take-out or delivery) and adjust your marketing efforts accordingly.
Design flow for customers, workers, and the food & drinks based on the new value
proposition.
•Carry out an analysis of the customer flow to remove any interruptions and keep it safe at all
times. Draw the layout of your establishment and the pathways of workers and customers through
that layout: this will allow you to identify the risks to maintaining physical distance between
people, both customers and employees.
•Keep people moving. This will reduce the lead-time, but also the customer’s exposure to
potential infection.
•Make adjustments to the store layout to accommodate the needs of social distancing and
reduced in-store dining traffic. (For instance, restaurants could stop accepting walk-ins and take
reservations only.)
•Ensure the guest journey in the environment is clear, by building visual cues and physical
barriers so that enforcement by staff is not necessary.
•Determine how to level the load of customers throughout the day. (For instance, you may choose
to implement flexible opening hours).
•Make all hand-offs “contactless”: this applies to deliveries, takeout pick-ups and table side
delivery for restaurants with open dining rooms.
Keep everyone safe, physically and psychologically, through standard work and simple visual cues.
Never forget about staff safety, both physical and psychological. Without it, there won’t be safety for customers either.
To win the hearts and minds of employees, leaders must exhibit care, resiliency, empathy, agility and a clear message of
purposeful work to strengthen employee trust and engagement.
Establish high-frequency, small-batch cycles for sanitizing high-touch surfaces, especially where hand-offs occur. Have
clear sanitation practices in place for cleaning, social distancing protocol, break scheduling and hygiene standards (mask
wearing, hand-washing every time the food contact chain is broken, closed drink cups, etc).
Keep standards simple and easy to remember and rely on visual controls at the point of use to make them second nature.
Always document them (to help staff who is unfamiliar with a task pick it up quickly) and keep them updated.
Make your menu strategy and payments contactless whenever possible, to limit the risk of fomite infection (object to
human).
Limit unnecessary worker movement that increases the risk of physical distancing violations (for example, you might
consider storing all necessary supplies at the point of use whenever possible).
Use visual controls to help customers do the right thing and play their role in keeping everyone safe.
Minimize costs.
•Look for waste across your organization to enable front-line workers to make quality and safety decisions. This
includes rethinking workspace, layout, delivery systems and hours of operation.
•Ask yourself how labor and production can meet demand with minimal to zero left over. How can we improve our
inventory turn times (how fast items are sold versus sitting on the shelf)? What influences inventory build-up? How can
we meet demand in real-time?
•Limit menu and drink offerings to reduce the complexity in the work. Give customers what they want: in the age of
Covid-19, it’s likely that they will care more about ease of ordering, quick service, and cleanliness than they do about
having an endless range of menu options.
•Prepare for a possible quick pivot if your business is to survive. Delivery seems to be an obvious opportunity for
restaurants and cafes, but it comes with its own challenges (little marketing capability for the new “format” of your
business and more fixed costs for commissions, fees, etc).