Pub customers want a ‘one stop shop’ single online solution to keep them informed about pubs in their area and encourage them to visit.
The findings, from new research commissioned by useyourlocal.com, are a clear message to the pub sector that cross-industry co-operation is the key to building loyalty and increasing trade for both pub operators and brand owners.
The survey of 874 useyourlocal.com members and social media users found that nine out of 10 want to find out about events and activity at all their local pubs from one website, rather than by trawling individual sites or signing up to multiple mailing lists.
Founder and managing director of useyourlocal.com Stuart Mills said, “Today’s consumers increasingly rely on a single, trusted online brand to make informed choices, whether it’s Just Eat to order a takeaway or Rightmove to find a new home. As the leading digital platform for the UK pub & bar industry, useyourlocal.com is already that same trusted source of information for hundreds of thousands of pub customers every month, and our survey clearly shows that the more effectively the industry co-operates, the more opportunities there are for everyone.
“Consumers now have a huge range of choice on how to spend their leisure time, but when it comes to going to the pub, they find it frustrating and difficult that the information they need is in many places online, and is often out of date. It’s very simple for pubs to keep their information on useyourlocal.com accurate and current, enabling consumers to find everything they’re looking for in one place, and so encouraging them to go to the pub more often.
“Individual pub websites play an important role, but both our research, and our years of experience, demonstrate that when individual licensees, pub groups and brands work in partnership with useyourlocal.com, we all benefit as an industry.”
Other key findings of the survey include:
- Three-quarters of respondents said they would go to the pub more often if they were prompted.
- Three out of four people look online before going out, and 40% have gone on to visit a pub or bar specifically because of the information they found at useyourlocal.com.
- In terms of frequency, six out of ten people would like to receive information about their local pubs at least once a day.
Mills added, “Ensuring customers can easily find information about their local pubs is the key to encouraging them to drop in more often. Pubs who engage with their customers via useyourlocal.com will see them visiting more frequently – and as one-fifth of survey respondents said they would recommend us to a friend, the number of regulars will also grow.”
The survey results also revealed demographics about useyourlocal.com members. While around 70% are men, and 54% fall within the 25-54 age group, Mills emphasises that “our members come from right across the spectrum, male and female, married and single, and from millennials to families and older ’silver surfers’, all of whom pubs need to engage with online.”
useyourlocal.com was founded in 2009, and celebrates the role of local pubs and bars in our communities, and actively encourages people to visit their local more often by connecting pubs and brands with consumers. It lists 75,000 pubs, bars and clubs. Every month, 400,000 consumers visit to find out about events, food and drink menus, brand activity and promotional offers to help them plan their pub visit. Of these, 20,000 members have opted to follow one or more local pubs and receive regular notifications from useyourlocal.com giving them news about those pubs.
The survey is based on 874 responses to a bespoke questionnaire sent to useyourlocal.com members and social media followers.