During December’s festive fray, quick-service restaurants (QSRs) consistently outperform their traditional dining counterparts, according to a report by The NPD Group. This uptick—a notable 3% sales boost—becomes even more important given today’s economic volatility, where savvy consumer spending is crucial. Research from Google also found that of the top 25 highest sales days for restaurants, 72% of them occurred in the months of November and December.

For QSR marketers, swiftly adjusting ad strategies to focus closely on optimization and measurement in order to capitalize on the brief holiday period is key. The potential for increased performance during the December holiday rush underscores the urgency for marketers to quickly fine-tune their ad strategies, ensuring they maximize the lucrative holiday window.

Accessing sales-level attribution data tied to granular campaign insights, however, has historically been a lag for marketers. Marketers often must wait an entire quarter for legacy panel data. By leveraging real-time commerce panels such as Attain’s, advertisers can quickly assess transaction-level campaign performance, derive insights from converting cohorts, and immediately turn insights into optimizations. Attain’s data not only tracks where and when customers eat and how much they spend, but also encompasses in-store purchases and orders placed on third-party apps like DoorDash or UberEats.

Meanwhile, real-time insights enable QSRs to measure the direct impact of their advertising campaigns and adjust on the go. By leveraging demand-side platforms with turn-key commerce panel integrations, such as The Trade Desk, QSR marketers can create lookalike audiences and make swift campaign modifications based off of cohorts who have converted. Marketers can zero-in on what’s working while in-flight, without wasting time and ad dollars.

“Transforming data into actionable insights makes every advertising dollar a strategic move towards greater customer connection and business growth,” said Daniel Block, head of business development at Attain. “Ultimately, this impacts the most important metric for any brand—sales.”

This paradigm shift in data utilization marks a significant stride for QSRs, according to Block, who emphasized that “offering a more dynamic and effective alternative to traditional reliance on in-store foot traffic.”

Reducing the measurement data feedback from two months to just two weeks is profound, and bridges the gap between online advertising and offline sales. This means QSR marketers can now allocate their ad budgets more effectively and tailor campaigns to consumer behavior trends and preferences as they unfold. Real-time commerce panels boost the efficiency of ad spend and provide deeper insights into customer patterns, preferences, and the impact of competitors, all of which paves the way for more strategic and responsive marketing decisions.

By working with Attain, marketers can measure and activate across multiple channels, offering a thorough, omnichannel perspective on ad performance, which in turn helps quicken decision-making while also improving ad spend effectiveness and the overall consumer experience.

Discover how Attain’s real-time commerce data, encompassing insights from more than 6 million consumers and extending beyond just QSRs, can benefit your business. Request a demo today.