March is supposed to come in like a lion and leave like a lamb, but with 97% of U.S. restaurants impacted by mandated dine-in closures by mid-March, the month left like an angry lion for America's foodservice industry. Restaurant traffic declined by 22% in the month compared to the same month a year ago. However, as a testament to U.S. consumers' desires for someone, other than themselves, to make their meals, digital restaurant orders increased by 63% and delivery by 67% in March, according to The NPD Group

Visits to quick-service restaurants — many of which already had off-premise operations, like carry-out and drive-thru in place prior to the dine-in closures — decreased by 19%. QSRs represented the majority of the digital and delivery order gains. Drive-thru QSR visits declined by 3%, but family or larger party-sized visits drove dollars up by 2% and the average eater check increased by 5%, according to NPD's CREST, which tracks daily restaurant usage across the U.S. 

Full-service restaurants, which were already challenged prior to the pandemic, saw traffic declines of 35% in the month of March compared to a year ago in March. On-premise traffic share prior the pandemic represented 80% of the FSR business and off-premise 20%. FSRs able to offer carry-out and delivery were able to lift the segment's off-premise traffic share by 31%. The FSR average check size increased by 15% in the month. 

"Our March results only show a portion of the significant impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the U.S. restaurant industry," David Portalatin, NPD food industry adviser and author of "Eating Patterns in America," said in the release. "Although it's fact that a larger portion of food and beverage consumption has shifted to in-home, it's clear that consumers are not willing to give up on the convenience and experience a restaurant meal brings to them and their families, regardless of the barriers.”