Thursday, April 7, 2011 | Edited by Daniel Moores
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The Fastest-Growing Restaurant Brands Five Guys Burgers and Fries was the fastest-growing restaurant chain in 2010, a year marked by a return to sales growth by the nation's biggest brands, according to market research firm Technomic Inc. Systemwide sales at the 500 largest chains in the United States rose 1.8% to $234 billion in 2010, after falling 0.8% to $230 billion in 2009, the firm found in its annual Technomic Top 500 report. More than half the foodservice chains included in the Top 500 recorded sales increases in 2010, Technomic said. Only 231 chains reported annual sales declines last year, compared with 283 chains that posted sales decreases in 2009. "We are pleased to see improvements in the U.S. economy begin to translate into improved performance for the leading restaurant chains," said Ron Paul, president of Technomic. "The industry has a lot of ground to recover and still faces many challenges. But our latest findings on 2010 chain performance are certainly encouraging." Fast-casual and limited-service sandwich chains continue to be among the fastest-growing restaurant brands in the country. Among chains with at least $200 million in annual sales, Five Guys Burgers and Fries grew the fastest in 2010, with sales up 38% to an estimated $625 million and a 35% growth in units. Jimmy John's increased sales 22% to an estimated $735 million and increased its store count by 20%. Fast-casual heavyweight Chipotle Mexican Grill grew sales 21% to $1.83 billion and expanded its store count by 14%. Rounding out the top 10 fastest-growing chains in 2010 were BJ's Restaurants (20% growth in sales to $514 million), Yard House (18% growth in sales to $216 million), Cheddar's (14% growth in sales to $309 million), Buffalo Wild Wings (14% growth in sales to $1.712 billion), Firehouse Subs (14% growth in sales to $235 million), Noodles & Co. (14% growth in sales to $261 million), and Panda Express (13% growth in sales to $1.404 billion). In all, the top 10 fastest-growing chains increased sales 18% to $7.8 billion and expanded their collective system size 14% in 2010, Technomic found. Technomic noted that 2010 was a comeback year for the steak category, which went from a 6.4% sales decline in 2009 to a gain of 2.2% last year. The firm said the sector's sales turnaround outperformed the full-service category's average annual performance. Headwinds remain for steakhouses, however, in the form of slowed unit expansion, restaurant closures, and a decrease in traffic and average check. Several other segments stood out in the report, Technomic said, including limited-service Asian, which increased sales 9.3%. Other fast-growing sectors were limited-service pizza, doughnut, and coffee and other beverages, led by sales growth of 7.8% at Pizza Hut, 6.1% at Dunkin' Donuts and 8.7% at Starbucks, respectively. As a whole, limited-service sales increased 2.5%, Technomic found. The world's two biggest restaurant chains, Subway and McDonald's, each posted healthy sales gains for 2010. McDonald's revenues increased 4.4% to $32.4 billion, while Subway's 6% growth to $10.6 billion outpaced the 1.8% sales increase of its other sandwich category. Those two quick-service powerhouses, as well as competitors like Wendy's and Yum! Brands Inc., have expressed aggressive international-growth goals, and Technomic's research indicates that foreign markets hold significant sales growth potential. The top 500 chains' international-sales growth outperformed their collective domestic business in 2010. International sales were up 3.1%, compared with 1.8% in the United States, while unit expansion abroad was 3.7%, compared with 0.5% growth in the United States. (Source: Nation's Restaurant News, 03/14/11) |
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A 'Peak' at Convenience Store Customers Morning and evening commutes are peak times for super heavy users of convenience stores to visit, while moderate and light users tend to visit more during the evening commute, according to research by The NPD Group, a leading market research company. NPD's Convenience Store Monitor, which tracks the consumer purchasing behavior of more than 51,000 c-store shoppers in the United States, identifies super heavy users as those who visit c-stores an average of 22.0 times a month, heavy users visiting 9.6 times a month, moderate shoppers visiting 5.0 times a month, and light users with 1.9 visits a month. Super heavy and heavy shoppers typically have blue-collar occupations and are 35 to 54 years old; moderate shoppers are slightly more likely to be between 55 and 64 and slightly more likely to have incomes between $45,000 and $75,000. Light c-store shoppers skew younger at 18 to 24, and older at 65 years-old or more, and are more likely to be students or retired from the workforce. According to the Convenience Store Monitor, super heavy users have the highest incidence of visits during the morning and evening commutes (5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., respectively). Super heavy users tend to purchase coffee, carbonated soft drinks and newspapers or magazines in the morning, and are more likely to purchase cigarettes or tobacco products, lottery tickets and alcoholic beverages in the evening. A quarter of heavy c-store consumers visit c-stores during the evening commute while one in five visit c-stores during the morning commute. These shoppers tend to buy sweet snacks in the morning and cigarettes and alcoholic beverages in the evening. Dairy products are popular during prime time with heavy c-store shoppers. Evening commute is a popular day segment for moderate and light c-store shoppers. Light shoppers are more likely than average to purchase frozen/slushy drinks and water during the evening commute. Slightly more than half of both light and moderate c-store shoppers make product-only purchases and are less likely to purchase products on sale than their super heavy and heavy shopper counterparts. "The amount of traffic and dollars attributed to higher frequency groups continues to distinguish their importance to the industry as a whole," said David Portalatin, c-store analyst at NPD. "However, opportunities exist to convert light and moderate users to more visits and food and snack purchases." (Source: Convenience Store/Petroleum News, 03/23/11) |
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Non-Contract Phone Plans Look a Lot Like Contract Plans Non-contract wireless plans are beginning to look a lot more like the contract plans, with nearly half of non-contract owners using monthly -- rather than pay-as-you go -- programs. According to a new study from J.D. Power and Associates, 49% of non-contract plan customers have monthly plans, many of which now mimic traditional contract plans and offer benefits such as unlimited calling and texting, compared with 30% in 2008. The increase can be attributed to a combination of cost savings and increased service offerings, as well as positive recommendations from existing customers. "Over the last couple of years, (the non-contract providers) have replicated the service plans of the contract providers," Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services for J.D. Power, told Marketing Daily. "Those types of plans are becoming a lot more popular." According to J.D. Power, overall satisfaction for no-contract monthly service plans (762, on a 1,000-point scale) is comparable to pay-as-you go plans (768). (In 2009, the satisfaction difference between the two was 14 points, according to Parsons.) These higher satisfaction levels may also drive customers to purchase additional products and services. According to the study, 53% of non-contract customers said they were likely to purchase additional products or services offered by their current carrier over the next six months. Overall satisfaction index points for those customers were 90 points higher, on average, than those who said they were content with their current plan and/or equipment. On average, non-contract customers spend $32 less per month than customers with contracts, according to the study ($60/month vs. $92/month). In addition, nearly 40% of contract customers who said they were likely to switch over the next year intended to choose a non-contract service, according to the study. And, Parsons points out, many of the no-contract providers are able to provide smartphones and data plans that rival the contract providers. "It used to be the idea of having a contract plan was that you have better phones and service, but that has changed," he says. Among the non-contract companies, Boost Mobile scored highest in overall customer satisfaction, with an index score of 808. Also ranking above the industry average of 765 were Metro PCS (792), Tracfone (789), Net10 (780), Virgin Mobile (773) and T-Mobile To Go (769). (Source: Marketing Daily, 04/01/11) |
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