Post COVID-19 What are the expectations of restaurants and diners ?

Within the context of Covid 19, what are the next steps for the restaurant industry?

TheFork reveals a study about  the expectations of restaurants and TheFork users

60% of diners interviewed plan to go out to restaurants when reopened, according to a study* released by TheFork. To help the recovery of the industry, TheFork is adapting its technology to assist Restaurants in their reopening and help them to comply to post Covid-19 new norms. 

After more than 3 months of closure, on June 2020, restaurants will be able to re-open their doors to the public. TheFork study reveals that diners are looking forward to being able to go to restaurants again. This is an encouraging signal for restaurants as this milestone is eagerly expected by the whole restaurant industry, strongly impacted by the closure of the activity. 

How can TheFork support your restaurant reopening?

As of today, on the restaurant side, TheFork is rolling out features to support restaurants to adhere to these post Covid-19 new norms. On the diners side, TheFork is reopening online reservations on its app and website, as insights from TheFork survey highlight the desire of people to come back to their favorite restaurants. 

Support, accelerate and secure the restaurant reopening through TheFork cutting-edge technology

During the lockdown, TheFork launched the saveourrestaurant.com platform to support the industry, which allows restaurants to benefit from prepaid vouchers to maintain a flow of income during the temporary closure of their establishment.The operation generated more than 678,514 € for restaurateurs thanks to almost 9000 vouchers sold.. As a strong partner of the industry, TheFork is also play a key role in the reopening. 

"One of the biggest challenges of this reopening will be for the restaurants to manage the social distancing, this is indeed a true financial risk for them, since their fixed cost will stay but they will have less customers in the restaurants. One very efficient way to adapt the industry to this new world will be the development of happy hours and "late hours" : our technology has been adapted to help owners manage the complexity of table rotation and for diners to easily find available tables. Our teams are here to help the restaurant owners to figure out how to get ahead of those changes and to secure their P&L", explained Bertrand Jelensperger, CEO, TheFork

Thanks to dedicated features, restaurants will be able to comply with post Covid-19 new norms for the safety of their team and clients. To name but a few unified booking management system allowing restaurateurs to:

• Manage reservations on different time slots
• Make the most of the floor plan feature allowing restaurants to manage the social distancing and prepare their shifts to maximize table availability
• Use booking reconfirmation by email & SMS which will help restaurants to minimize their no-shows

Thanks to this technology and the support of TheFork teams, restaurants will be able to welcome their customers in the best possible conditions. 

63% of diners people plan to go to a restaurant the month of their reopening 

To support restaurateurs in their reopening, TheFork launched a study* to its users, in order to give restaurants the keys to understand the behavior of post-containment users and adapt to this new situation.

In terms of consumption budget, the study does not forecast any major impact : 57% of diners interviewed feel that their budget has not been impacted and do not plan to pay more attention to their restaurant expenses than before.

To ensure the best reopening, it is essential today for restaurateurs to reassure their customers : 73% of respondents declare that it is either “crucial” or “very important” to be informed about the health protocols implemented by restaurants. 

Learn more about diners expectations to prepare your restaurant reopening :

* Study launched by TheFork in May 2020