Restaurant Mobile Apps Fall Short on Speed

Study shows that restaurant sites served on mobile devices are slow to load and lack online ordering options.

September 29, 2014

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Search Agency released findings last week from the latest edition of its quarterly report, “The Mobile Experience Scorecard – Restaurants & Catering,” that found that the industry is working to align with the most advanced mobile experiences, but speed continues to be an issue for websites served on mobile devices.

While 32% of the sites analyzed use responsive web design (RWD), no site serving the updated format were able to pass the page speed test, with average page load times over one minute. Additionally, only 40% of the sites have a click-to-order or click-to-reserve button, which hampers brands’ mobile conversion rates.  

(Editor’s Note: NACS launched nacsoline.com in early 2013 with a new responsive design, which automatically adjusts to accommodate each type of digital device users are viewing the site from.)

“We’re seeing a trend that shows that many brands are attempting to answer Google’s call to use RWD, but the implementation of these sites is proving difficult, as they are resulting in longer page load times and often a poor overall experience,” said Delia Perez, senior vice president of account delivery and strategy at The Search Agency.

Results from the study include:

  • Papa John’s received the highest score (3.815) in the report’s user experience scorecard, and garnered the fastest load time. Panda Express (3.715), Dominos (3.38), Wendy’s (3.305) and Jimmy Johns (3.25) rounded out the top five. Dave and Buster’s (1.53), Chipotle (1.465) and Golden Corral (1.075) ranked as the bottom three.
  • Of the 50 sites analyzed, the majority (60%) serve dedicated mobile sites and 32% use RWD. This trend to forgo RWD, despite Google’s push, aligns with prior mobile scorecard reports, likely in an effort to save load time.
  • The sites using RWD had an average load time of 73.9 seconds while those using dedicated mobile sites loaded in an average of 46.34 seconds.
  • All but two of the brand websites, Graze and Pizza Hut, included an automatic or manual geolocation API when served on a mobile device. However, only 40% had click-to-order or click-to-reserve functionality.

See the full rankings including methodology or download a copy of the report here.

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