79.3% of family-restaurant diners went to a regular spot; chat with family and friends decided it
SOEL Inc. surveyed 400 people aged 20–59 who had visited a family restaurant in the past three months about how they found and chose the place. 79.3% said the restaurant they recalled was a repeat visit and 54.3% looked nothing up beforehand. The final push was “it came up in conversation” for 26.3%, versus 3.8% for review scores.
Key points
- 79.3% of visits were to a place they had been before; first-time visits were 11.8% (izakaya: 33.5%)
- 54.3% checked nothing beforehand; among those who booked (20.1%), 46% looked at gourmet sites and 34% at the official site first
- Final push: came up in conversation 26.3%, budget 12%, photos 11.5%, invited 6.5%, review score 3.8%
Background
This was a self-funded survey by SOEL, not reviewed by a third party. Answers rely on memory of one recent visit, were not balanced by gender or age (187 women, 213 men), and exclude people in their 60s and above and overseas visitors. Only 80 respondents had made a reservation, with a margin of about ±11 points.
SOEL provides social-media and Google Maps marketing support for restaurants and has been publishing a series of cuisine-by-cuisine surveys.
What it means for shops
For everyday places such as family restaurants, being remembered as a regular spot matters more than winning new customers. The minority who book, however, check gourmet and official sites and tend to spend more per head. Restaurants need to prepare information for both routine visits and special-occasion bookings.
What shops should do
- Create topics families can raise at home, such as seasonal fairs and kids’ menus
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Summaries are written by Seiichi Studio based on the original releases. Always check the source for the exact details.