Data from Tillster, a global provider of unified commerce solutions for restaurants, suggests that restaurant customers are less loyal to their favorite restaurants than they used to be. In the company’s 2026 Phygital Index Report, 45% of consumers surveyed said their favorite restaurant has changed in the last year. That’s a significant increase over 2025 when one-third of diners said the same thing.
Tillster concludes that “restaurants can no longer rely on being the ‘go-to’ to secure repeat visits.” On the other hand, convenience stores are picking up the slack, providing the food quality and customer service that many customers are looking for, the report found.
The report surveyed 2,144 U.S. diners on their ordering habits, dining preferences and evolving expectations. Sixty-nine percent said they have maintained or decreased their dining-out budgets due to economic conditions. Price still matters—33% cite it as one of the most important factors in their dining decision, but that’s down from 59% in 2025, when it ranked as the top factor. The overall dining experience has gained importance—food quality (45%), convenience (44%) and speed (34%) are the top three factors when diners decide where to eat.
Even as many chain restaurants focus on discounting and value deals, diners are “shifting away from their go-to brands, changing how they spend, and shifting toward C-stores and grocery options, creating one of the most fragmented foodservice landscapes in history,” a summary of the report states.
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C-stores and grocery stores are gaining ground in perceived value, Tillster says. Thirty-seven percent of diners say they’re going to fast-casual restaurant chains less often, and 29% say the same about fast-food chains. Conversely, 36% say they go to grocery stores more often, and 33% say the same about C-stores. This shift suggests that “restaurants must move beyond discounting and prioritize seamless and personalized experiences to stay competitive.”
Surprisingly, 44% of respondents in the Phygital Index Report said C-stores provide better quality food compared to fast-food and fast-casual chains. Also, 45% said C-stores provide better service.
Tillster said restaurants need to pay more attention to the experience factors that drive customers’ dining decisions.
According to the report:
- Diners are changing both how much they spend and where they’re eating. They’re dining out less and “making more intentional trade-offs within the ordering experience.” About 50% have switched from delivery to pickup during the checkout process because delivery and service fees were too high. Sixty-one percent said they have abandoned a delivery order entirely due to service fees. Meanwhile, 33% are choosing lower-priced items, 27% are using loyalty programs more often, and 26% are tipping less.
- Loyalty program satisfaction is on the decline. Although some consumers are using loyalty programs more often, 28% say they’re dissatisfied with the loyalty programs they belong to, nearly double from 2025 (15%). On the other hand, 39% don’t check loyalty programs consistently, if at all, before deciding where to eat. With that in mind, Tillster says, “Brands have to deploy more targeted, timely offers to boost engagement, satisfaction and revenue opportunities, particularly as 74% of consumers say these programs drive additional spend.”
- Diners are looking for seamless and personalized omnichannel experiences. Even with expanded ordering channels, restaurant brands are still struggling to create consistent experiences across every touchpoint, Tillster said, which further threatens customer loyalty. Sixty-four percent of consumers use self-service kiosks regularly, 75% order via drive-thru at least several times a month, and 61% order with a cashier just as often. Restaurants should “leverage technology to orchestrate interactions, from connecting loyalty programs across channels to enabling staff with personalized upsells at the register, to bridge the disconnect and create experiences that provide real value.”
Other data points from the report:
- 47% of diners order via third-party apps
- 54% use restaurant platforms for delivery
- 59% use restaurant websites or apps for pickup orders
- 64% order via in-store self-service kiosks multiple times per month
- 40% have abandoned an order because they felt pressured to tip and 62% tip less or avoid restaurants that prompt them to tip.
Perse Faily, CEO of Tillster, said this year’s report points to “a fundamental shift in the industry that we’re calling Restaurant 2.0. As consumers place greater emphasis on experience over price, brands have to move away from the ‘tech for tech’s sake’ mindset they’re operating in today. Restaurant 2.0 is defined by the ability to deliver seamless, consistent experiences across every physical and digital touchpoint, but operators still lack the interconnective systems to truly operate at the level diners expect. That disconnect is what’s driving the erosion of loyalty we’re seeing today.”
Click here to view the full Phygital Index Report.
