News

UK customers prefer quick-service to full-service restaurants

September 10, 2014

UK customers' satisfaction with restaurants has declined this year according to new research from the National Customer Satisfaction Index. The NCSI-UK shows that nearly every large restaurant chain shows deteriorating customer satisfaction, and for the first time, customers are more satisfied with quick-service restaurants than full-service restaurants.

According to a news release, customer satisfaction with limited-service restaurants is down 1.3 percent to an NCSI score of 77, while full-service restaurants fell 2.6 percent to 76 on a 0 to 100 scale.  

Price has always been an advantage for quick-service food, but improved quality and variety have helped push satisfaction to a higher level than that of sit-down restaurants, NCSI-UK reports. For large restaurant chains, a continued reliance on vouchers has come at the expense of "genuine" customer loyalty.

"Customer loyalty can be bought or it can be earned," ACSI Founder Claes Fornell said in the release. "The latter is usually better for the company in the long run. But rather than focusing on quality and service, many of the major chains are competing on price – which is difficult to do when the competition is fast food. And if quick-service restaurants are providing greater diner satisfaction, there is little left for full-service restaurants to compete on."

Sandwich shops dominate the category, with Greggs and Subway tied for the lead at 79. Costa Coffee and Starbucks were evenly matched at 76 a year ago, but now move in opposite directions; Costa improved 1 percent to 77, while Starbucks fell 3 percent to 74.

Yum! Brands' Pizza Hut and KFC chains are down 3 percent to at 74, tied with McDonalds, which is unchanged. Though McDonald's ranks among the lowest-scoring QSR chains in the UK, it still outperforms its US counterpart, which is dead last on the ACSI at a score of 71. At the bottom of the category in the UK, Burger King declined 1 percent to 71.