Study: Mobile traffic for menu searches accelerates

Consumers are increasingly relying on Web-enabled phones to find their next place to eat, forcing many restaurants to keep their websites updated and optimized for mobile browsing, a new report found.

According to a study of more than 10 million page views from Constant Contact’s SinglePlatform network, mobile traffic accounted for 42 percent of all menu views for restaurants participating with SinglePlatform and its partner websites from Oct. 25 through Dec. 3. That percentage was even higher in some large markets, including 62 percent in New York City and 57 percent in Charlotte, N.C.

The study also found that 52 percent of views occurred on Apple iPhones, while the second most views happened on iPads, demonstrating the growing influence of smartphones and tablets on restaurant traffic.

Though much traffic leading to a restaurant’s digital menu would still come from a traditional Web search and visit to the eatery’s website, the acceleration of mobile searches means restaurants must ensure their websites are adaptable to smartphone browsers, said Wiley Cerilli, executive vice president and general manager of New York-based SinglePlatform.

“It was the first week where the number of mobile menu views surpassed [those from the] Web, which is important for a number of reasons to restaurants,” Cerilli said. “A lot of their menus aren’t mobile-optimized yet and are still built with Flash. If something like 64 percent of smartphone users convert in the hour, having websites mobile-optimized is critical.”

Cerilli cited an earlier study from xAd, Nielsen and Telmetrics to confirm that 64 percent of smartphone users who find a restaurant through some kind of mobile platform convert that search into a restaurant visit within 60 minutes.

“That is the most significant stat,” he said. “Make sure your mobile-website updating is happening as quickly as possible. And because the average spend is higher on the weekends than weekdays, Thursday and Friday are the perfect time to do it.”

Traffic to restaurants’ websites and digitized menus also increases significantly on the weekends, with 33 percent more page views occurring on Saturday and Sunday compared with the rest of the week, the study found.