Same-store sales and customer traffic

Same-store sales and customer traffic

Restaurant operators reported dampened same-store sales and customer traffic in February

Same-store sales improved somewhat in February from January’s dampened readings, but restaurant operators still reported a net decline from year-ago levels. 

Thirty-eight percent of operators said their same-store sales rose between February 2023 and February 2024, according to the National Restaurant Association’s monthly tracking survey. That was up from only 24% of operators who reported higher sales in January. 

Fifty-one percent of operators said their sales were lower in February, down from 69% who reported a sales decline in January.                

Restaurant operators: Want to know how your business compares to similar restaurants on a monthly basis? Find out by taking a few minutes to participate in the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey. All survey respondents receive exclusive access to the detailed survey results each month, broken out by industry segment and type of ownership.

Restaurant operators also continued to report negative customer traffic in February. 

Only 26% of operators said their customer traffic rose between February 2023 and February 2024, while 56% reported a traffic decline. That represented the 11th consecutive month of net declines in customer traffic. 

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