Seeing signs of the old “normal”

Economic conditions provide reasons for optimism in 2024

​Could it be time for a cautious sigh of relief? Inflationary pressures have been easing, along with challenges related to labor and supply chains. As a result, many restaurant owners and operators are finding that lately, the day-to-day operating environment feels a bit less frantic, tumultuous and unpredictable than it has in several years.


It’s a moment to not only celebrate but also seize. To survive and thrive, restaurants will have to carry forward the processes that have helped them operate leanly and efficiently in the past few years, while fine-tuning their methods of collecting, analyzing and acting on their data. In Bank of America’s newly released State of the Restaurant Industry report, Cristin O’Hara, managing director of the bank’s Global Commercial Banking Restaurant Group, said the smartest companies in the industry are using these relatively stable times to invest in the tools that will help them better understand their guests, what they’re buying and how often, and how to use their data to make even stronger decisions about such functions as inventory management and menu development. “Every restaurant can benefit from being able to not only collect data on every transaction, every item, but to analyze it so you can maximize your sales,” she says in the report. “A lot of folks aren’t spending the time and money on that to stay ahead of the curve, and that’s going to be so important going forward.”


She predicts that tech innovation will continue to be a game-changer in the industry, helping restaurants more efficiently manage such tasks as answering phones, taking orders, upselling customers and managing inventory. Restaurants that are able to improve their capabilities in these areas will be in a stronger position to grow and adapt to changes in the landscape. For example, online ordering may plateau in 2024, requiring operators to develop marketing efforts to drive more business online or seamlessly shift gears to other sales streams. Further, guests’ desire for restaurant meals that feel like a good value will call for restaurants to continue to innovate their menus and provide new experiences to guests.