9 Factors Consumers Consider When Choosing a Restaurant & How to Take Advantage of Them

Attracting new customers is your main purpose as a restaurant owner. The more clients you have, the more profit you make and the more successful your business is.

But how can you convince people to visit your eatery? Easy, you need a sneak pick into their minds to learn more about the factors consumers consider when choosing a restaurant.

In this article, you will learn study-based facts on how diners choose restaurants and easy-to-implement tips on convincing clients that your establishment is the best choice for them.

Factors consumers consider when choosing a restaurant

Food and location are important for any business serving food, but they are no longer the only elements a person takes into account when choosing a place to eat.

Here are the most important factors consumers consider when choosing a restaurant, in the order of importance, according to a study titled “Customer Restaurant Choice”:

1. Price

With the current inflation, people do a little bit more research before going out. They don’t want to just enter a restaurant that looks good and be surprised by prices they cannot afford.

While searching online for a restaurant, your clients want to be able to find your menu prices easily and fast. Don't add a PDF menu to your website with just the dishes listed.

Clients will be deterred by both the fact that they have to download the menu to browse it and also that they don’t know how much your menu items cost.

Instead, choose an interactive restaurant menu, organized into categories, with all the prices and ingredients listed. You get bonus points if it is fully integrated with an online ordering system so clients can instantly order any dish that makes their mouth water.

2. Word of mouth

People like to talk about their eating out experiences, no matter if they are good or bad. They will share all the details with their friends, be it the food, the price, the ambiance, or the server’s attitude.

If you offer an amazing customer experience, every client will become a promoter of your business. Their recommendations are sure to bring you new customers to keep your business thriving.

3. Personal experience

Do you know the show Friends where a group of friends spend most of their time at the same restaurant? While exaggerated for show-business purposes, it is inspired by a simple truth.

People like routines and tend to become loyal clients of places that treat them well. Therefore, make it your goal to treat people so well that they won’t even want to try out new places.

And, once-in-a-while use some trusted promotions to bring them back and reward them for their loyalty. A 10% off the next meal will do the trick.

4. Variety of menu items

Some restaurant owners strive to create long, elaborate menus, in hopes that they will satisfy many different tastes. But what they don’t know is that people don’t like to have very menu choices because they feel like they are wasting their time.

Furthermore, a big menu will raise question marks regarding the quality and freshness of your dishes. How could you prepare delicious menu items that belong to so many different cuisines?

Instead, choose to create a small menu and focus more on creating mouth-watering dishes that will persuade any client to return and taste them again.

5. Popularity

How will people be able to choose your restaurant if they don’t know it exists? If you want to increase your popularity, consider adding these ingredients to your marketing strategy:

• A sales-optimized website to help you get on the first page of Google where people will be able to easily find you when they search for restaurants in your area;
• Optimize your Google Business Profile so your information will be readily available;
• Have an active social media presence with conversion-centric posts and interact with your followers.

6. Reputation

In time, as more and more clients pass through your doors, you begin to gain a reputation. People form an opinion about your business, that is further enhanced by your online presence.

Take matters into your own hands and ensure you gain a good reputation by branding your restaurant. Practically, you must create an image for your business that will be the same on all platforms and interactions, be it on your website or how servers act with clients.

7. Location

One of the factors consumers consider when choosing a restaurant is whether they will be able to easily reach your location. That’s why there are more chances you will attract clients that live in your area, rather than further away.

Some people may be up for taking a journey to reach you if your place is raved about and many people recommend you. Therefore, ensure you have your address visible on your website, social media, and Google.

It can also help to have signage pointing to your restaurant if you are located on a less-used street or if your storefront is not obvious.

8. Sales promotions

Your food may look amazing, and your location may be very convenient, but clients often need a little push to visit your restaurant. If you implement promotions in your menu and promote them on your website and social media, people will be tempted to take the big step and become clients.

You can go for small ones, such as 5% off the first order, or create more complicated ones, such as meal bundles, free dessert over a certain amount spent, or even 1+1 deals for your pizza or burgers.

9. Online reviews from customers

People trust other’s experiences, even if they are strangers. Often, when searching for a restaurant, after they search the menu and prices, potential clients will also have a look over your online reviews to see if your place is worth it.

Therefore, make it a point to encourage past clients to leave a positive review. Maybe even offer them an incentive, such as a free dessert for their effort. While you make a small investment, you will be rewarded with a large number of new clients.

How to persuade clients to choose your place over your competitors

Now that you know the factors consumers consider when choosing a restaurant, let’s see what measures you can implement to attract more clients to your business, despite the big competition.

Use a restaurant menu with online ordering

Clients are already searching for your menu when deciding on a restaurant, so why not give them the option to order online? Maybe they will see a dish they won't be able to resist and won't want to wait until they reach your location.

Moreover, you also increase your number of sales by taking orders online. Make it easy for both you and your clients by using the ordering system from GloriaFood. It only takes 10 minutes to add to your website and it is free:

Get an SEO and sales-optimized website

If you want to increase your popularity and gain a trustworthy reputation, start by getting an SEO and sales-optimized website. You can generate your own with our online ordering system and we will deliver it to you completely customized to your type of cuisine.

Because it will be already SEO-optimized, you increase your chances of ranking on the first page of Google, where all your customers are:

Keep prices lower by making portions smaller

It's no secret that clients are on the hunt for the lowest price possible, but they still want amazing food. This can be hard to sustain for restaurants because all the costs involved are high and they still need to make a profit on top of paying for the ingredients and workforce.

An easy trick is to make the portions smaller. Not small enough that clients leave while still being hungry, but just so you can lower the price point.

Moreover, you also reduce food waste, as a lot of your clients don’t finish their meals because they are too big.

Add attractive promotions to your menu

Adding restaurant offers to your menu has never been easier. Use our online ordering system to set up a variety of tried and tested promotions templates in a couple of seconds. Free delivery, free items, 2+1, all very attractive deals.

You can further customize the restaurant promos to only appear on certain days or only be available to certain types of customers:

Optimize your Google Business Profile

To further improve your popularity, Google gives you the perfect tool to reach potential clients: your Google Business Profile. To take full advantage of it, you must:

• Add a link to your menu, so interested people can become clients;
• Add working hours, so clients know when they can visit you. Don’t forget to update them for the holidays;
• Add your exact address, so you can appear in Google Maps searches;
• Add lots of pictures of your food, interior, and atmosphere to tempt people to visit your restaurant.

Final Words

Knowing the factors consumers consider when choosing a restaurant and using the best tools at your disposal will ensure potential clients will pick you over your competitors. Take advantage of our online ordering system and its extra features to get noticed and convert hungry people to loyal clients.