SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Womply, the leader in front office software for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today unveiled its second annual State of Local Restaurants report - a comprehensive look at when local restaurants nationally and in each state do the most business, seat the most guests, and more.
The report, which is publicly available on Womply.com, reveals a wide range of consumer spending trends at local restaurants, including how sales vary during the days of the week, months of the year, and on major holidays.
The report includes a national report and localized reports for each state, powered by analysis of transaction data from more than 42,000 restaurants in every corner of America during every day of the 2018 calendar year.
“One of the most difficult aspects of running a local restaurant is not knowing where you stand,” says Womply Founder Toby Scammell. “This second edition of our State of Local Restaurants report gives local restaurant owners and operators unprecedented visibility into relevant sales benchmarks so they can see how they’re doing all year long.”
The report uncovered highly consistent sales patterns for local restaurants, with very little seasonality. Weekly sales spike on the weekend, as expected. In general, revenue as a percentage of annual sales doesn’t change much from month to month, and the average weekend is bigger than most prominent holidays.
Nationally, on a typical day local restaurants see 45 transactions at $28 per ticket for average daily revenue of just over $1,273. On a state level:
- Patrons spend the most at local restaurants in Rhode Island ($1,883/day), Vermont ($1,731/day), California ($1,601/day), Massachusetts ($1,585/day), and Florida ($1,553/day).
- Consumers spend the least at independent eateries in West Virginia ($843/day), Wisconsin ($837/day), Kansas ($811/day), Oklahoma ($804/day), and Mississippi ($708/day).
- North Carolina was home to the busiest local restaurants, with an average of 63 transactions on a given day.
- Vermont is where patrons spend the most eating out, with an average ticket of $38.22 per restaurant.
The report also revealed some notable revenue trends with regard to seasonality and holiday sales:
- Mother’s Day weekend is prime time for local restaurants. The Saturday and Sunday of Mother’s Day weekend are the No. 1 and No. 2 revenue days of the year, respectively. Both days are more lucrative than Valentine’s Day, Super Bowl Sunday, New Year’s Eve, Cinco de Mayo, and St. Patrick’s Day.
- Valentine’s Day is a surprisingly modest day for most eateries, ranking No. 120 out of all 365 days in terms of revenue.
- Super Bowl Sunday is in the bottom half of revenue days for the year at No. 255.
- Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick’s Day are the No. 3 and No. 4 days of the year, respectively.
- Patrons spend more at local restaurants when the weather warms up. May, June, July, and August each account for at least 9% of total yearly spending.
- January and February are the two slowest months of the year, bringing in 6.6% and 7% of total yearly consumer spend, respectively.
“Our goal with the State of Local Restaurants report, as with all our data analysis efforts, is to better inform the small business owners who keep our local and national economies humming,” Scammell says. “The more we study sales patterns on Main Street, the more we learn that consumer spending often defies conventional wisdom. We hope this report helps restaurateurs better understand their patrons and run more profitable businesses.”
Womply’s 2019 State of Local Restaurants report is now available on Womply.com. For more information, contact press@womply.com.
About Womply
Womply’s mission is to help small businesses thrive in a digital world. Our AI-powered data platform enhances our comprehensive small business management software, which includes the world’s only pre-populated CRM plus small business intelligence, reputation management, marketing automation, and integrated payments. Every day, we serve more than 150,000 small businesses across 400+ verticals, in every corner of America. To learn more, visit www.womply.com or email info@womply.com.
