Dive Brief:
- Consumers are becoming less loyal to specific restaurant brands, according to a new report from Tillster.
- About 45% of surveyed consumers said their favorite restaurant brand changed in the last year, compared to 33% in 2025. The firm surveyed 2,144 consumers in the U.S. about their dining habits for the report.
- Many consumers are cutting back on restaurant visits to save money, or switching to grocery and c-store occasions, Tillster found. Lower prices are no longer the ultimate determining factor in consumer behavior as quality and convenience become more important.
Dive Insight:
The restaurant tech company found that weakening consumer attachments to individual brands could pose a threat to segment leaders' market share.
“As diners change spending behaviors, explore alternative dining options, and rethink what value truly means, traditional restaurant leaders face growing pressure to differentiate their loyalty programs,” the report stated.
This assertion aligns with recent findings by Paytronix, which highlighted the decline of points-based loyalty programs as drivers of diner behavior. The decreased importance of points-based programs accompanies a shift by many brands away from pure discounting plays.
Consumers, in turn, Tillster found, are looking for a more expansive form of value that blends price with experiential elements, surprise-and-delight moments, personalization and consistently high food quality. In fact, consumers listed price as the fourth-most important factor in deciding where to dine, behind food quality, convenience and speed.
While this shift in sensitivity indicates stabilization and adaptation to current price levels, according to Tillster, consumers are still looking for opportunities to save money, particularly in restaurant delivery. A majority (61%) of consumers abandoned a delivery order due to service fees, while roughly half have switched to pickup channels as a way to minimize fees.
Some consumers are shifting their spend away from restaurants entirely, with 36% visiting grocery stores more frequently and 33% going to c-stores more often. These trends, Tillster found, reflect a mix of price sensitivity and preference for convenience.
The competitive threat from c-stores is particularly acute, with 44% of consumers saying c-stores serve higher-quality food than QSRs and 78% saying that prices between the two are similar. This could lead to greater fluidity of consumer demand between the concepts, particularly as c-store operators invest more heavily in foodservice.
Fast casual and QSR brands have performed unevenly over the last several quarters, according to a set of publicly traded firms analyzed by Restaurant Dive, with many chains posting same-store sales declines in 2025. However, the segment as a whole has still produced notable winners.
The intensified competitive environment could put greater pressure on restaurants to compete for consumers, leading to more value offerings, more LTOs and more changes to loyalty programs.
