Restaurant Marketing Is Shifting: What the Data Says and What to Do Next
Consumer spend is slipping, but restaurants aren't slowing down. New nationwide research from Popmenu shows 69% of restaurants are adopting AI (current users + this year's adopters) while 81% plan to increase digital marketing investment.
The takeaway for marketing leaders: own your audience, move faster with automation, and get visible where buyers search-traditional engines and AI assistants. The teams that build repeatable systems now will win the next 12 months.
Key Findings That Matter to Marketing
- 68% of consumers are cutting back on dining; average weekly spend dropped to $90 in Feb 2026 (down $25 vs. June 2025).
- 97% of operators are sharpening focus on guest experience; 63% remain optimistic, and 28% plan to expand.
- 69% are adopting AI (44% using, 25% adopting this year); 55% use AI to create marketing content.
- 85% of consumers still use traditional search; 20% use AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) to find restaurants.
- 78% of operators are optimizing sites for both traditional and AI-driven discovery.
- 87% use tech to personalize messages; restaurants add 100+ new contacts to email lists monthly.
- 48% of consumers want weekly communication; 53% redeem loyalty rewards.
- 41% expect tech to streamline service (online ordering, automated comms, digital payments).
- 31% are considering variable pricing; 41% plan more limited-time menus.
What This Means for Your Strategy
With budgets tighter, every touch needs to be targeted, measurable, and fast to iterate. Treat your CRM, menu, and website like revenue assets-not brochures.
AI is no longer a side project. It's how you scale content, testing, and personalization without bloating headcount.
90-Day Action Plan
- Own your audience: Add email/SMS capture at every entry point-website, Wi-Fi, QR menus, checkout. Incentivize with a first-order perk or LTO preview.
- Fix discoverability: Clean up Google Business Profile, hours, categories, photos, and menu links. Add structured data (Restaurant, Menu) via schema.org so AI and search can "read" your menu and specials.
- Stand up AI-assisted content ops: Set brand voice rules, approved offers, and compliance guardrails. Use AI to draft emails, SMS, posts, and menu descriptions; require human review.
- Tighten your cadence: Weekly message rhythm that rotates LTOs, loyalty perks, and daypart promos. Segment by recency, favorites, and order value.
- Run LTO sprints: 2-week cycles. Promo plan, creative, segment, offer test (A/B), recap. Ship learnings into the next sprint.
Personalization That Actually Moves Revenue
- Behavioral segments: First-timers, lapsing (30/60/90 days), high-value, families, office caters.
- Dynamic content: Favorite items, nearby location, pickup vs. delivery preference, weather-aware specials.
- Triggers: Post-visit "thank you" with a bounce-back offer, birthday month perks, cart abandonment nudges.
Pricing and Menu Agility
Test flexible pricing where it's acceptable to guests, then communicate the "why." Keep it simple, transparent, and tied to value.
- Off-peak bundles or add-on discounts (e.g., mocktail + app pairing).
- Daypart or day-of-week price tests for low-demand slots.
- Weather-based promos (soup on cold days, patio specials in sunshine).
- Use digital menus to roll changes across locations instantly; track item-level conversion.
Measurement: Prove It Works
- Acquisition: Opt-in rate by source, cost per subscriber, menu page to order conversion.
- Engagement: Open/click-to-order, SMS tap-through, offer redemption.
- Revenue: Repeat rate, time-to-repeat, AOV, item attach rate, LTV by segment.
- Efficiency: Content throughput (brief-to-send time), cost per send/order, support ticket deflection via automated comms.
Stack Checklist (Keep It Lean and Connected)
- POS integrated with CRM/loyalty and online ordering.
- Centralized guest profile (deduped), preference tracking, and consent management.
- Marketing automation for email + SMS with AI drafting and human QA.
- Menu management with APIs/structured data and instant LTO deployment.
- Review management and auto-reply templates.
- Attribution that ties orders to campaigns and segments.
Team Enablement
Train your team to ship faster with AI while protecting brand voice and compliance. A clear playbook beats ad hoc effort every time.
If you're formalizing skills, start here: AI Learning Path for Marketing Managers.
Bottom Line
Guests are spending less and expecting more. The operators winning share are treating AI, personalization, and discoverability as core infrastructure.
Build the system now: capture data, automate the mundane, and keep testing offers that earn the repeat visit.
Source
View the full report here: Popmenu toolkit: 2026 Restaurant Trends to Watch
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