Same-Store Restaurant Sales Are Down After Less Consumers Dine Out In March

The restaurant industry is currently feeling the effects of a negative trend—consumers didn’t dine out as much in March as they did in February. Nation’s Restaurant News notes that the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) fell from 102.1 in February to 100.7 in March.

According to the monthly survey, 46 percent of restaurant operators said traffic slowed down during the month, while 26 percent said they saw an increase in customers. As a result, only 46 percent of operators said same-store sales increased in March, which is a huge drop from the 71 percent who saw same-store sale increases in February. But according to the NRA’s chief economist, Bruce Gindy, those numbers aren’t exactly surprising.

In a statement, he said, “With the exception of February, which was bolstered by Leap Year, the RPI told a generally consistent story in recent months.”

Despite the stall in same-store sales, the NRA doesn’t consider the restaurant industry to be shrinking. Some operators are still optimistic about their sales prospects—38 percent said they expect their sales to rise within the next six months. 59 percent of restaurateurs are also planning to expand their businesses with new equipment or remodeling.

The RPI is based on two indices: The Current Situation Index and the Expectations Index. It was the latter—the index that measures operators’ expectations—that held up the RPI in March.

“Same-store sales and customer traffic readings were a mixed bag, while restaurant operators remained cautiously optimistic about business conditions in the months ahead,” said Grindy. “Barring any external shocks, this likely points toward the continuation of a moderate business environment during the remainder of 2016.”

Click here to read the original Nation’s Restaurant News article.