Boost Perceived Value and Get More from Every Guest
Rising labor costs, supply chain disruptions, and inflation-driven declines in customer traffic have combined to create a very competitive foodservice landscape. While guests are still getting food to go, they are doing so with higher expectations. They have become more selective, more value-conscious, and less forgiving of a disappointing experience.
Today, increasing profit per guest requires delivering value—but value is not the same as price. Instead, it is the customers’ impression of quality relative to cost. This impression results from how closely the food-to-go resembles dine-in meals’ taste, temperature, and texture, if orders arrive complete and without errors, and overall convenience. Operators who prioritize protecting these things align with what is most important to consumers. In doing this, they position themselves to grow their base of loyal regulars, attract new traffic, and unlock profitable growth.
Here are two strategies to drive both increased per-guest profit and customer frequency in today’s challenging environment:
1. Delivering Value as Guests Define It
Since 2020, the cost of dining out has climbed more than 30%, making consumers more discerning than ever. According to Technomic, “good overall value” is the top driver today influencing where hungry potential customers choose to eat.
But what exactly defines “value” in the eyes of today’s guests?
Technomic® research shows that perceived value is shaped by more than just price—it includes food quality, freshness, and temperature that taste like dine-in and fast, accurate, and convenient service. Importantly, these quality and experience-related factors ranked even higher than price in customer decision-making.
This is where higher-performing packaging becomes a critical part of your operation’s value equation. Packaging designed for performance doesn’t just keep food safe—it helps maintain temperature, texture, and freshness, preserving the experience your kitchen worked hard to create. It also reduces the risk of order mishaps and delays, creating greater customer satisfaction and smoother, more efficient operations.
In addition, higher-performing packaging can expand a location’s service radius by ensuring that off-premise meals hold up better during transit. The result is a better guest experience across more orders, driving repeat business, more positive word-of-mouth, and a growing base of loyal regulars. It’s a powerful tool for enhancing perceived value while protecting the investment you’ve already made to win each customer.
2. Creating Menu-Driven Value That Encourages More Visits
Strategic menu offerings can also play a key role in increasing perceived value. One proven tactic is offering shareable entrées—a concept that creates value that customers recognize, motivating them to add profitable apps, sides, or desserts and increase visits.
Shareable meals create an immediate sense of value through a lower total check. This strategy incentivizes customers to add-on purchases of high-margin extras like appetizers, premium sides, and desserts. It gives customers permission to indulge without breaking the bank—and creates a lasting impression of a good deal that directly leads to more frequent visits.
For example, a successful midscale operator saw strong results by launching a meal bundle featuring a sharable entrée, multiple side options, and a dessert. Guests saw the value in splitting a meal and, as a result, increasingly added apps and desserts. At the same time, the restaurant saw improved profitability through increased attachment rates of high-margin items, which resulted in stronger overall performance across locations.
This strategy shows how higher perceived value can increase profitable indulgences per visit while a lower total check adds more visits per year—a win-win in today’s challenging market.
Unlock More Loyalty—and Profit—with Smarter Value Plays
When it comes to building loyalty and improving unit economics, value is the lever that moves more customers. Protecting quality and convenience creates a stronger perception of value for customers. Likewise, offering recognizable value, such as shareable entrées, creates an opening for them to indulge, increasing the margin generated with each visit. The critical point is that operators must prioritize creating value for every visit, as this is what motivates today’s diners.
Packaging that performs protects more than just food—it safeguards an operator’s brand and keeps customers coming back.
Hungry for more ways to increase profit, loyalty, and long-term growth? We’re here to help.
