THE STATE OF LOCAL RESTAURANTS 2018
Illinois
We analyzed transactions for every day of the 2017 calendar year at 26,000 small, independent restaurants across America. The result is a comprehensive look at when restaurants earn the most money, when they seat the most guests, and which states make the most dough from patrons who #eatlocal.
What we learned about Illinois
Illinois is the 10th-ranked state for restaurants. Eateries in Illinois see the second-highest number of transactions each day among all restaurants nationally.
Understanding this report
To understand the average day for restaurants in America, we took a multidimensional look at their performance. We specifically looked at:
- Transactions: How many individual payments restaurants process.
- Ticket Size: How much patrons spend on average per transaction.
- Daily Sales Revenue: How much revenue restaurants make per day.
THE AVERAGE DAY FOR ILLINOIS RESTAURANTS
Restaurants in Illinois rank 2nd for the average number of transactions each day, 38th for average ticket size, and 5th for average daily revenues. This makes The Prairie State the 10th overall best state for restaurants and still one of the most affordable states to #eatlocal.
| Transactions | Ticket Size | Sales Revenue |
| 76 | $29 | $2,247 |
| National Rank: 2 | National Rank: 38 | National Rank: 5 |
ILLINOIS WEEKDAYS COMPARED TO WEEKENDS
Like most states, restaurants in Illinois see more revenue, more transactions, and higher average ticket sizes on the weekend.
ILLINOIS’S AVERAGE WEEK
Here we see a day-by-day look at the average daily sales revenue in Illinois compared to the national averages. Illinois mostly follows the national trend.
THE AVERAGE YEAR FOR ILLINOIS RESTAURANTS
On a national level, sales revenues only have a subtle variation from month to month. That holds true for Illinois.
TOP 5 DAYS FOR ILLINOIS RESTAURANTS
Here are the top revenue-generating days for restaurants in Illinois. Like many states, Mother’s Day, Cinco de Mayo Weekend, and weekends leading up to the holidays are among the best.
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 |
| FEB 18Saturday after Valentine’s Day | DEC 16 | MAY 14Mother’s Day | DEC 22 | MAY 6Cinco de Mayo Weekend |
| SATURDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY |
ILLINOIS RESTAURANTS ON PROMINENT DAYS
Restaurants put a lot of focus and work into big events and holidays, but how do the most prominent days rank compared to the rest of the year and the average day? Illinois restaurants saw an upswing in ticket size on every single prominent day.
| Day | Rank/365 | Daily Sales | Change in sales | Number of transactions | Change in Transaction Volume | Avg Ticket Size | Change in Avg Ticket |
| Super Bowl | 224 | $1,933 | -13.99% | 61 | -19.54% | $31.75 | 7.69% |
| Valentines Day | 137 | $2,465 | 9.68% | 79 | 4.71% | $31.11 | 5.52% |
| St. Patrick’s | 76 | $2,907 | 29.37% | 98 | 29.79% | $29.60 | 0.42% |
| Cinco De Mayo | 52 | $3,020 | 34.40% | 101 | 33.87% | $29.81 | 1.13% |
| Mother’s Day | 3 | $3,571 | 58.92% | 84 | 10.37% | $42.76 | 45.05% |
| Father’s Day | 41 | $3,085 | 37.30% | 81 | 6.44% | $38.31 | 29.95% |
| July 4th | 323 | $1,533 | -31.78% | 51 | -33.00% | $30.24 | 2.57% |
| Day before T-giving | 104 | $2,689 | 19.66% | 91 | 20.11% | $29.59 | 0.37% |
| Thanksgiving | 364 | $882 | -60.74% | 14 | -81.45% | $62.87 | 113.26% |
| Christmas Eve | 114 | $2,589 | 15.21% | 50 | -34.50% | $52.23 | 77.18% |
| Christmas | 365 | $455 | -79.76% | 9 | -88.27% | $51.24 | 73.82% |
| New Year’s Eve | 101 | $2,748 | 22.28% | 68 | -10.09% | $40.39 | 37.01% |
Methodology
Womply analyzed daily revenue for 25,893 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for all 365 days of the 2017 calendar year. Restaurants were only qualified for the analysis if Womply had a full year of transaction history and the business recorded multiple transactions per day, on average. Category and overall state rankings are based on a composite score of each state’s transactions, average ticket sizes, and overall daily revenue.
About Womply
Womply is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider to small businesses and one of the fastest growing software companies in America. Our mission is to help small businesses thrive in a digital world. Every day we serve more than 100,000 small businesses across 400+ business verticals, in every corner of America. To learn more, visit https://www.womply.com or email info@womply.com.
