Let’s Go Out! How Customer Experience in Restaurants Boosts Happiness
We could all use a little more happiness right now. Americans’ happiness has fallen to the lowest level in almost fifty years because of COVID-19, a recent study found. Could restaurants and bars be the key to making us all a little happier? We think so.
Studies have actually found that focusing on the customer experience in restaurants can increase happiness. Let’s look at how dining out could be the feel-good activity we all need right now.
5 Ways Improving Customer Experience in Restaurants & Bars Boosts Happiness
- Bars and Restaurants Help Customers Safely Feel Less Isolated: Since the start of the pandemic, 50% of the population has felt isolated or lonely. With virus numbers trending downwards in most places now, going out to restaurants and bars can help customers get out and socialize safely.
Customers can venture out knowing that the restaurant and bar industry has strict standards for social distancing, sanitizing, and occupancy. This means they’re often safe places to socialize and feel a little less isolated.
- 2. Experiences Over Things: People are happier when they spend money on experiences compared to material items, a 2012 study It turns out people enjoy greater well-being and feel like their money was well spent when they spend money on experiences.
Going out to a bar or restaurant is an experience in itself. The better the restaurant service or the customer experience in bars and eateries is, the better the overall experience will be.
- Trying New Things Leads to Greater Joy: People who engage in a variety of experiences are more likely to have less negative emotions and more positive ones, studies show. Getting out to a bar or restaurant is a fantastic way for people to enjoy a variety of new experiences.
From trying different foods and drinks to interacting with a variety of people, dining out allows people to try new things.
- Socializing is as Important as Not Smoking: People with poor social connections have 50% higher odds of death than those with healthy social connections, according to a university study. The boost in lifespan between those who socialize and those who don’t is about the same as the difference between smokers and nonsmokers.
Incorporating socialization into the customer experience in restaurants goes a long way towards boosting customer happiness – and apparently, lifespan!
- Going to Bars Makes You Happier: People who go to pubs regularly are happier and healthier than those who don’t, found an Oxford-based study. Being a regular at a bar and knowing other patrons provides a sense of community and belonging that can make people happier.
It can also decrease anxiety too. By boosting the customer experience in bars, you help to increase the happiness of patrons.
How to Increase Customer Experience in Restaurants
If you want to increase people’s happiness with the customer experience in restaurants, you have to focus on value and satisfaction, research shows.
This often means blending exciting and fun aspects with functional ones. A Deloitte study found that there are only five things you need to do to improve the customer experience:
- Engage them
- Empower them
- Hear them
- Delight them
- Know them
Right now, it’s about providing people with experiences and the opportunity for meaningful socialization – while still offering outstanding restaurant customer service.
Engage meaningfully with your customers, because it might be the first interaction they’ve had in a while. Focus on creating an environment where socialization and overall experience truly matter.
Most importantly, prioritize safety. There’s no denying that getting out and going to restaurants and bars can increase happiness, but we have to do it safely. Enforce social distancing and sanitization techniques. Use contactless menus, mobile menus, and digital menus. Work to ensure your patrons feel safe.
If we focus on improving the customer experience in restaurants and bars, we can make a meaningful impact on lifting people’s spirits. Let’s get out and start to experience life again together in the safety of a restaurant or bar!
Want to provide safer, contactless menus for your customers? Try a free demo of our contactless menus now. Click here to learn more.
