NCGA releases issue 10 of Covid-19 Impact Report

U.S. consumers still visiting the on premise,
but plans to visit show signs of slowing

With all states now in some degree of ‘open’, the reimplementation of some restrictions highlights the fragility of the U.S On Premise at present. Venues are in a period of experimentation; finding ways to maximize capacity and encouraging more consumers to return, counterbalanced by measures to protect consumers and themselves from rising infections and the threat of re-enacting shelter in place restrictions.

In this issue, we focused on the key states of Texas, Florida, New York and California and have shifted to a data tracker format in order to consistently visualise the changes in the current situation and easily highlight fluctuations. Over the weekend (July 17-19) we surveyed 1,560 respondents (who have drunk alcohol in the last 3 months) from these states on their expectations, desires and how they plan to behave in the next two weeks.

summary

Increasing from 36% four weeks ago, 41% have been out to eat in the past two weeks

New York continues to see increasing visitation to bars/restaurants for meals, while Florida and Texas show only minor increases. This indicates that in Florida and Texas the number returning has plateaued, which is likely due to the increasing cases in these states and the more cautious consumers still holding off returning

California’s flat return reveals a similar trend and also reflects the reimplementation of measures in the last week preventing further visitors from going out

Satisfaction of visits remains high with 79% of returning visitors feeling satisfied or extremely satisfied with the overall experience on their last visit

Drinks with food remains the top occasion for returning visitors and shows the most important part of visits right now is more to do with the dining occasion than celebrations. Ensuring food and drink offerings meet expectations is therefore crucial to capturing returning visitation.

The greatest encouragement for consumers who have not returned remain practices which venues can hopefully/continue to implement; this includes having staff in protective gear with hygiene measures, outdoor seating available and social distancing in venues. If bars and restaurants can and do implement these practices with visibility to their customers, it can help support consumers comfort in returning

To download the full free report, visit the dedicated COVID-19 On Premise Impact Report page.