The Curious Surge of Productivity in US Restaurants (nber.org)
- Reference: 0176696475
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/25/03/12/1839244/the-curious-surge-of-productivity-in-us-restaurants
- Source link: https://www.nber.org/papers/w33555
> We document that, after remaining almost constant for almost 30 years, real labor productivity at U.S. restaurants surged over 15% during the COVID pandemic. This surge has persisted even as many conditions have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Using mobile phone data tracking visits and spending at more than 100,000 individual limited service restaurants across the country, we explore the potential sources of the surge.
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> It cannot be explained by economies of scale, expanding market power, or a direct result of COVID-sourced demand fluctuations. The restaurants' productivity growth rates are strongly correlated, however, with reductions in the amount of time their customers spend in the establishments, particularly with a rising share of customers spending 10 minutes or less. The frequency of such 'take-out' customers rose considerably during COVID, even at fast food restaurants, and never went back down. The magnitude of the restaurant-level relationship between productivity and customer dwell time, if applied to the aggregate decrease in dwell time, can explain almost all of the aggregate productivity increase in our sample.
[1] https://www.nber.org/papers/w33555
Not tracking "customers" (Score:2)
What they are probably tracking are Door Dash and Uber eats drivers. That's what's gotten popular since the plandemic.
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Not to mention that some people still won't eat at restaurants after the pandemic, but will do carry-out.
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That and ordering kiosks/online order apps. I can be in and out of Nick the Greek's in 30 seconds, much faster than if I have to give my order, wait for it to be assembled, and pick it up. Countering that is the prices going through the roof. I spend $35 getting a meal for two at Five Guys which is absolutely nuts.
The fine abstract doesn't say it but I assume by "efficiency" they mean "revenue (or profit) dollars per hour worked". Anyone know what they actually measured?
My favorite coffee chain is Philz (wh
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> I spend $35 getting a meal for two at Five Guys which is absolutely nuts.
To be fair, Five Guys has always been expensive. I love their burgers, but the prices usually keep me away. If we had In & Out in my area I'd never even consider going to Five Guys again.
Re: Not tracking "customers" (Score:2)
I have a grill in my backyard area.
There's a local burger joint about a block away but the one time I went in there they made me the worst burger I have ever paid for and some sad, limp fries.
Five guys is only marginally better than that from a price:performance standpoint, given the expense...
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Yeah they are probably one of the pricier of the fast food restaurants even before the plandemic and inflation. It's good, but an every once in awhile treat. Plus you'd probably need coronary bypass surgery within a month if you ate it every day lol.
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I miss the plandemic years. They were the most enjoyable years in my entire life. I almost cried when they came to an end.
Is this what passes for science nowadays?! (Score:2)
"a rising share of customers spending 10 minutes or less. "
So more people were ringing up with orders and going to pick them up, during Covid and since, and that is used here to show that "real labor productivity at U.S. restaurants surged" ?!
It's dismal, but it's not science.
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I mean, this is just a basic defintion of productivity of profit/labor cost. They compared that plot to a few other data sets and sure enough, turns out a higher volume of take out orders increases profit per labor unit .
I mean it is science, or at least statistics. Undergraduate research level, but still technically qualifies.
Ghost towns (Score:2)
While I like the quiet, it's a little depressing to go to a take away restaurant and be the only customer there. Especially knowing that not that long ago, it would be moderately busy at this or that time of day. Meanwhile, the drive-thru stays busy... I can't even strike up conversations with the staff to break the monotony because they're rushing to fill the drive-thru orders.
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I honestly believe COVID lockdowns turned a lot of people into weirdos who effectively don't like ever leaving their homes.
My sister went work from home during COVID, still is. When we got out, she's always weirdly anxious to "get back home".
Give it a generation and we'll have an entire group of people who view those who venture outside as, oh, Eloi.
and that's when the cannibalism will begin!
But seriously, people went insane and still are.
So a lot of people realized ... (Score:2)
... that eating at home is more pleasant.
You still get to have someone else do the cooking though.
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Someone else? How do you figure? Do you have live-in help? Or is "live-in help" what you call your spouse? In my house, I make the mess, and I clean it up. (No automatic dishwasher, here, either; all old-school. Yay for dishpan hands.) I *enjoy* eating away from home, or even take-out, because it means I don't have to spend three hours doing that shit.
Those 30% tips are working! (Score:2)
I guess it's those 30% tips that waiters demand that are making them work harder? I guess someone must be working harder, but I don't see it. All they do is stand and take orders, then someone else delivers the food.
Spot (Score:2)
All they do is stand and take orders
The know-it-all who has never worked in a restaurant.
To be fair, I hate tipping too. But the fix isn't calling the worker greedy, it is getting the owner to pay the wait staff a normal wage.
Capacity (Score:2)
The number of customers that a restaurant can serve in-house is limited by the number of tables. Take out or delivery has no such limit. Also, you do not need waiters of busboys or most other front staff. Essentially restaurants are being replaced by food stalls at least at the cheap end of the market.
If Grub Hub and Uber Easts were included... (Score:2)
If they were included as restaurant workers, which they essentially are, then productivity would likely have dropped. However, the study does not include them as restaurant workers. They're considered replacements for visitors driving to and from the restaurant.
Okaay..that's a weird flex (Score:2)
Hah, imagine the unfortunate Door Dash driver just standing there for ~10 minutes, patiently waiting for someone to eventually move the already prepared food items from the kitchen window to the delivery driver pick up area.
Oh, wait. That's not imagined, it's a real observation I made while eating lunch yesterday. Yeah those numbers can weave a funny tale sometimes.
have they not heard of (Score:2)
This is the kind of thing that qualifies for Information Technology thesis papers. It's not science, not computer science, it's Info-Tech, which you can get a masters degree or whatever just by collecting some data, displaying it in some kind of graph, and drawing conclusions about the meaning of the data.
I don't care enough to look, but did they take into account the fact that you can get dinner delivered by an underpaid delivery driver who works part time as a non-employee of Uber or some other mega-corp
Fast food and Take-out is not a restaurant. (Score:2)
'10 minutes or less' is not a restaurant. At a true restaurant that isn't even enough time for dinner rolls or appetizer to show up or be consumed.
Since most 'restaurants' are no longer such, did they at least draw a reasonable line at what they count as a restaurant? RTA, are you kidding?
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It does say "individual limited service restaurants". That's industry jargon for "fast food." Not necessarily just big chain places like McDonald's, but any place that is entirely or almost entirely (maybe a table to two, mostly for people waiting, not eating) takeout or delivery.
Might be true, but still not that useful a metric? (Score:2)
I'm not real surprised they discovered their productivity was higher during COVID, with everything moving to "to go" pickup orders. And obviously, that created new habits for a whole group of customers; they got used to just pulling into an order pickup parking spot and taking their food back home to eat it.
But at some point, it's like most of the other commenters here are saying. Your sit-down restaurants have to provide an enjoyable dine-in experience. Trying to rush people out the door is NOT the way to
As someone that likes eating out (Score:3)
If restaurants push to reduce dwell time to improve efficiency that might kill a big incentive of eating out.
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> If restaurants push to reduce dwell time to improve efficiency that might kill a big incentive of eating out.
What could be more enjoyable than eating at a place that does everything it can to rush you out the door?
Re: As someone that likes eating out (Score:1)
Thatâ(TM)s why I done dine out anymore. Also I donâ(TM)t like being treated as a âoe markâ from eom maximum money is to be extracted. Once upon a time you had a lovely meal as a luxuryâ¦
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The other side of this is being held hostage when your server disappears and never brings your check. Once I have eaten, I am done. Rush me out the door, please.
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When your food comes, say "I'll take the check, please" (even if it's a runner, they will convey the request). If you decide you want something else, it can be added
By and large, once servers take your order, they're done with you. And are either onto other tables, eating, or screwing around on their phones.
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That happened to me at a Steak N Shake. Went to pay and the restaurant was empty of employees. Towards the back I could see what looked the manager on the phone. I set down the bill and walked out.
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all you can eat buffet not mean all day buffet
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Keep in mind this is based on data from only " individual limited service restaurants", which is to say, places that specialize in - or only do takeout, which is to say, fast food joints. It does not even look at real restaurants.
Small surprise that during the lockdowns, people discovered that a lot of fast food joints to takeout, and decided they preferred that to sitting in a noisy, crowded place that doesn't get cleaned as often as it should, full of noisy, screaming brats throwing their french fries at
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> If restaurants push to reduce dwell time to improve efficiency that might kill a big incentive of eating out.
Many have been doing that for ages. Turn the temp down just a bit. Drop the check with the food or shortly after. Clear the dishes off the table almost as soon as you take the last bite. "Anything else I can get you folks tonight? hint, hint "
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I wouldn't go that far. While some may take it that way, another way to take this information is that A) consumer eating habits have changed where take-out might be more prevalent, and B) takeout has far lower cost attached (no need for servers or bus people, and you need less real-estate per dollar earned). Thus having a convenient takeout option where customers can buy it to go for a delivery or pickup increases profitability. That doesn't mean they remove the dine-in experience, just adding a take-out
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That's not new though. It's why I stopped eating out much quite a while ago.
It's naarowly about fast-food joints (Score:2)
Not restaurants at all.