Annual Square Research Signals 2024 Will Be a Year of Long-Awaited Growth for Businesses
31 Gennaio 2024 - 3:00PM
Business Wire
Business expansion and automation to address
staffing challenges are top of mind for restaurants, retailers
Today, Square released its fourth annual Future of Commerce
report, with comprehensive analysis on how business owners and
consumers are considering the evolution of the restaurants, retail,
and beauty industries. The report offers insights on how these
businesses are shifting – and how consumers are responding –
particularly amid further advancement in automation and generative
AI.
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the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240131122169/en/
In 2024, business expansion and
automation to address staffing challenges are top of mind for
restaurants and retailers. (Photo: Business Wire)
In collaboration with Wakefield Research, Square surveyed
thousands of business owners and consumers on restaurant, retail,
and beauty industry trends across the United States, Canada, the
United Kingdom, and Australia.
“For businesses, the future is looking cautiously optimistic,
and business owners say they’re looking to grow despite diverging
consumer economic sentiment,” said Matthew O’Connor, Head of
Verticals and Platform at Square. “With Square’s ecosystem,
businesses can easily expand – whether that means opening a new
location or introducing new non-core offerings – while continuing
to drive customer loyalty and engagement.”
Decisively, 100% of surveyed restaurateurs in the United
States say they plan to expand their businesses in the next 12
months through offering new products or opening additional
locations, and 79% report feeling more optimistic about the future
of their restaurants. At the same time, three in four consumers say
they expect to pull back on restaurant spending in 2024 – so
restaurateurs need to invest in more efficient ways to find and
engage customers in order to see return on their investments.
- Consumers are looking for a tech-forward approach from eateries
– 73% of consumers surveyed are supportive of local restaurants
using AI-based tools, and 78% would prefer to place their orders
via self-serve kiosks. This bodes well for businesses where
staffing is top of mind, as understaffing issues have persisted at
restaurants for a reported average of 19 months. Nearly all
restaurateurs (98%) believe AI will solve some of their staffing
challenges, particularly around food prep and delivery management
(42%), voice ordering technology (41%), predictive ordering and
inventory management (39%), and food prep robots (38%).
- Restaurateurs are not only investing in AI to address labor
challenges – more established automation tools are also on the
agenda in 2024. 55% of surveyed owners plan to increase their
spending on technology and automation tools in the next 12 months,
and 80% of consumers want restaurants to invest in at least one
area of automation when they’re not at full staffing capacity.
- As restaurant owners look to expand, 78% of those surveyed say
they’ll experiment in the coming year with non-core offerings like
meal kits, subscriptions, events, and more. Restaurateurs say that
right now, nearly 20% of their revenue stems from products and
services outside of their core restaurant offerings.
“Automation and AI are going to be key growth levers for
restaurants in the coming year, though not in the way you may
think,” said Ming-Tai Huh, General Manager of Square for
Restaurants. “The vast majority of restaurants will be integrating
AI into their operations in small, iterative ways – not through
flashy robots but through automation in marketing or kitchen
workflows – and these minor changes will add up to saved time and
more profit.”
Growth is top of mind for retailers in the United States
as well, with 57% of those surveyed saying they’re eager to expand
in the coming year – though they are split on whether to prioritize
brick and mortar (49%) or online offerings (51%). With 58% of
consumers typically shopping in-store and 42% online, the research
emphasizes that keeping in touch with customers via digital
channels is key no matter where or how they choose to shop.
- Offering compelling in-store experiences for customers is key
for retailers this year to continue driving traffic into stores –
consumers report they’re most likely to try offerings like
in-person loyalty programs (56%), in-store dining options like a
coffee or wine bar (43%), and interactive displays, kiosks, or
activities (30%).
- AI-powered product recommendations is the top priority tool for
retailers of all sizes to implement, especially for those planning
to add more online options over the next year (42%).
- To compete in today’s marketplace, retailers are offering more
choice and flexibility to reach new and existing customers – such
as by implementing faster and easier communication channels with
customers (42%) and providing Buy Now, Pay Later options like
Afterpay (39%).
“Whether retailers are focusing on in-store or online shopping,
it’s more important than ever to maintain communication with your
customers,” said Roshan Jhunja, General Manager of Square for
Retail. “Retailers should be building rapport and staying connected
with their customers through social media, email, and text, and
they should also be finding ways to create unique in-person
experiences to bring folks into their stores.”
The report also includes findings on beauty and how
consumers approach finding (and sticking with) beauty care
providers – 62% of those surveyed have a preferred provider, though
69% have switched due to factors like overly long wait times.
Consumers have also signaled interest in turning to beauty or
personal care providers for online tutorials (27%), in-person
classes (26%), and at-home DIY boxes (23%).
For a full analysis of the top restaurant, retail, and beauty
trends for 2024, industry data and insights from Square experts,
and real-life examples from Square sellers, download the report
here or reach out to press@squareup.com.
About Future of Commerce
The retail and restaurant surveys were conducted by Wakefield
Research among 2,000 retail owners and managers and 2,000
restaurant owners and managers, with quotas set within each survey
for 500 respondents per market in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and
Australia between October 27 and November 8, 2023, using an email
invitation and an online survey.
The consumer survey was conducted by Wakefield Research among
4,000 nationally representative adults ages 18+ in the U.S.,
Canada, the UK, and Australia, with quotas set for 1,000
respondents per market, between November 15 and November 28, 2023,
using an email invitation and an online survey. Data has been
weighted.
About Square
Square makes commerce and financial services easy and accessible
with its integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions. Square offers
purpose-built software to run complex restaurant, retail, and
professional services operations, versatile e-commerce tools,
embedded financial services and banking products, buy now, pay
later functionality through Afterpay, staff management and payroll
capabilities, and much more – all of which work together to save
sellers time and effort. Millions of sellers across the globe trust
Square to power their business and help them thrive in the economy.
For more information, visit www.squareup.com.
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