• by Teresa Buyikian , September 4, 2024

It’s been a turbulent year in QSR, with slower sales, competing meal deals, endless limited time offers, high style swag, price fluctuations, celeb-infused campaigns and executive shake-ups. But despite the time and money spent on attracting, and keeping, customer’s share of stomach, people remain primarily driven to QSRs for cravings and convenience.

According to a recent report by Technomic, customer cravings for a particular food, which spurred an impulse/unplanned trip, drove 47% of chain restaurant visits, with convenience second at 17%. Those wanting a “comfort” or simple meal came in third at 16%, and customers seeking “better for you” food were fourth at 12%. And lastly, only 8% said they went to a chain restaurant on a whim for the “experience."

“For the spontaneous consumer, the dominance of this singular need state speaks to the power and pull that cravings exert on consumers when the occasion is not planned or part of a routine,” per the report.

But a much-needed boost to those impulsive customer cravings may have already arrived. Never fear, pumpkin spice (PS) season is here! Chains -- especially Starbucks, which has seen record sluggish sales as of late and replaced its CEO with Chipotle’s Brian Niccol --  recently saw an early bump from the holiday season favorite (of some). Per the recent report “Pumpkin Spice Works Its Magic Once Again” from foot traffic firm Placer.ai, on Aug. 22, the day Starbucks launched its PS menu, foot traffic increased 24.1% compared to the previous eight Thursdays. Visits also remained elevated in the following days.

Certain states were certainly more excited about the PS launch than others. Visits to Starbucks on launch day increased 45.5% in North Dakota, 42.6% in Kansas, 42.2% in Utah and 41.3% in Iowa.

“Starbucks’ successful PSL launch shows that even as consumers count their pennies, people are finding room in their budgets for sweet, cozy indulgences that don’t break the bank,” said Lila Margalit, author of the Placer.ai study, in an email to QSR Insider.

And it doesn’t end there. Online searches for PS in general are only growing as the holidays draw near and seemingly every other chain in the U.S launches their own PS menu. When the calendar turned to Aug., searches for pumpkin spice lattes increased 10.97x higher than average, according to search intelligence provider Captify.

And it isn’t even fall. So it remains to be seen if this year’s pumpkin spice mania is enough to boost overall chain restaurant sales for 2024.