CHICAGO -- Everyone knows that millennials are the convenience industry's most frequent customer, but there's increasing talk of another up-and-coming generation that's looking to supplant them: Generation Z. This teenage/early 20s consumer cluster is also highly loyal to convenience stores and visits for prepared foods and dispensed beverages at a rate that will likely eclipse their millennial counterpart in the near future.
To stay abreast of what makes this teenage consumer tick, our colleagues at Restaurant Business recently detailed the seven restaurant chains that teens call out as their favorite. Convenience-store operators can take note of why these particular brands are so highly prized among this valuable consumer base, in order to capture their spend and loyalty early.
Read on for the results ...
Starbucks was named teens' top restaurant chain. Starbucks scored highest across multiple income levels among teens.
The chicken chain ranked second overall, and like Starbucks, was preferred by a double-digit percentage of upper-income teenagers.
McDonald's ranked third overall, and was preferred by 6% of upper-income teens and 5% of average-income teens.
Proving more popular among upper-income teenagers, Chipotle ranked fourth overall in the survey.
While Dunkin' ranked fifth overall, similar to Chipotle, its popularity was more pronounced among upper-income teens.
One of just two casual-dining chains on the list, Olive Garden ranked higher among average-income teens (4%).
The casual-dining wings-centric chain was more likely to be preferred by average-income teenagers.
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