Craving fast food in the early 1990s was tricky because there weren’t too many options. For those who weren’t too conscious about hygiene, a compromise was natural because they had to eat what was available.
Fast forward to 2021, there are a large number of organised quick service restaurant (QSR) chains, who can fulfill your cravings in a jiffy. McDonald’s, Dominos, Burger King and Jumbo King are some of the players in the game.
A February 2021 report by Edelweiss Securities said that India’s QSR market is expected to clock a compounded annual growth rate of 23% between now and the fiscal year 2025.
Reasons For Popularity
QSRs serve meals at low prices, with minimal table service. People usually pay beforehand, while ordering the food. Following are some of the main reasons why QSRs are fast-becoming a major trend in our country:
- Online food delivery
- Changing lifestyles
- Glocalisation of brands
- Catchy advertisements
- Urbanisation
- Demographics: over 50% of Indians are younger than the age of 24. When a majority of the population is young, there is a greater demand for fast food.
Yes, the pandemic was a setback because a countrywide lockdown was imposed. All businesses remained shut down for a long time. But, margin protection and a focus on redefining value propositions have brought sanity back to the business world.
Future Of QSRs
An increase in online and zero-contact food deliveries has been noticed over the past year. It may be here to stay. As the number of internet users are increasing all over the country, most of the QSR players are using social media to engage with their customers.
Amit Jatia, vice chairman of Westlife Development, which runs McDonald’s restaurants in the west and south of India, says that organized players will get even stronger in the months ahead. QSRs have benefited during the pandemic, as consumers are increasingly gravitating towards organized players.
Dheeraj Gupta, the founder of Jumbo King, agrees. Gupta opined, “India is at an inflection point when it comes to eating out. The QSR business itself will grow rapidly with existing chains growing rapidly into newer markets.”
Tips For QSRs
He also shared a few tips for QSRs to stay on top of their delivery game.
1. Over-deliver on first-time orders: Give people a reason to come back. People like to be spoken to as individuals, not as a mass audience. Whether that’s by automatically filling in predetermined information or sending a small, extra, trial portion, it hints that a brand knows and values its customers.
2. Make your website B2C friendly: The website’s homepage is a customer’s first and main entry point. This is an opportunity to make customers feel seen and reflect an e-commerce-first approach. Make it easy for them to try your brand.
3. Make the ordering process fun: This is the most important part. Use aesthetically pleasing visuals and make suggestions based on customer palates. Do this to showcase brand personality, while keeping people engaged and entertained.
Showing lip-smacking visuals of the food make it easier for people to get a better idea of what they want.
4. Make the checkout easy: Checkout and delivery are the last digital obstacle between a person and their food. Make it quick and transition the customer from the cart to submitting their order “in as few steps as possible”.
Often, delivery services have a cart. This presents an opportunity to include a “You May Also Like” section during the checkout step.
5. Streamline desktop and mobile ordering: While the web design is responsive across different devices, it’s not exactly optimized for them. It is important to differentiate the experience between the two devices.
Most often, customers will be on their phones, but expect the same ease they would find when using a desktop. Eliminate the task of lengthy vertical scrolling on mobile as far as possible.