Same-store sales and customer traffic

Same-store sales and customer traffic

Restaurant operators reported mixed sales and traffic results in March

Restaurant operators continued to report positive same-store sales readings in March, according to the National Restaurant Association’s monthly tracking survey. 

Seventy-four percent of operators said their same-store sales rose between March 2022 and March 2023, which was essentially unchanged from the proportion that reported higher sales in both January and February. 

Seventeen percent of operators said their sales were lower in March, compared to 12% who reported a sales decline in February.           

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.

In contrast to the positive sales results, customer traffic readings were a mixed bag in March. Forty percent of operators said their customer traffic rose between March 2022 and March 2023, down from 51% who reported higher traffic in February. 

Thirty-eight percent of operators said their customer traffic declined in March, up from 32% who reported lower traffic in February.        

Track more economic indicators and read more analysis and commentary from the Association's chief economist Bruce Grindy.