Zenreach data shows tremendous foot-traffic increase at restaurants year-to-date

Marketing firm also identifies top markets based on percentage increase

According to data from marketing firm Zenreach, foot traffic at restaurants has increased 57% since the beginning of the year following a lifting of restrictions nationwide and a good portion of the country being vaccinated. The latest 90-day trend shows an increase of 10% from the start of the three-month period, while the 60-day trend shows a 9% increase on a rolling basis. In a bit of tapering off, the 30-day trend shows a 4% increase from the start of the rolling period.

Zenreach identified the top markets where the percentage increase from the beginning of the year was the greatest. These included the following MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas): San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA; San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA; Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO; and New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA. The percentage increase can be impacted by pent-up demand, but also due to a market’s baseline being affected by pronounced restrictions or customer reticence to dine out.

Here are the top 25 MSAs and their percentage increase from the beginning of the year to the end of June, according to Zenreach data:

1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, 192.01%
2. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA, 173.65%
3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, 161.16%
4. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO, 150.91%
5. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA, 132.48%
6. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, 131.44%
7. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, 123.16%
8. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA, 121.51%
9. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, 103.60%
10. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA, 102.33%
11. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI, 97.50%
12. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA, 97.27%
13. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, 82.53%
14. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV, 77.43%
15. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, 76.56%
16. Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI, 63.10%
17. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, 62.38%
18. Kansas City, MO-KS, 53.99%
19. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA, 52.04%
20. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA, 43.36%
21. Tucson, AZ, 42.69%
22. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL, 39.18%
23. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, 35.88%
24. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX, 33.4%
25. New Orleans-Metarie, LA, 32.5%

“We’ve now seen an increase of 57% in restaurant foot traffic this year nationwide, which bodes well for our economy,” said Megan Wintersteen, VP of Marketing for Zenreach. “With indoor mask mandates starting to lift, Zenreach expects these numbers will continue to increase. It would not surprise me if nationwide foot traffic reaches a more than 65% lift (since January 1, 2021) within the next three months.”

For more about the publisher of this restaurant news site, navigate here.