They’re the four-letter words that customers can’t get enough of these days.
Touting “free” items and a good “deal,” restaurants are trying to attract diners and combat flat traffic.
“The only thing that’s holding the QSR (quick-service restaurant) segment up is offering up these discounts, and it’s still not driving traffic as they hoped…It’s just a real battle for market share,” said Bonnie Riggs, a restaurant industry analyst at market research firm The NPD Group.
There’s evidence deals do spark visits. Deal-related traffic rose 5 percent during June to August versus a year ago. Non-deal traffic contracted 1 percent in the same period, according to NPD.