Gen Z Drives Customization Demand — With Guardrails

Just 20% of Gen Z consumers order from restaurant menus as listed — but the same generation leading the customization shift also wants clearer guardrails, according to Datassential’s Choice vs. Decision Fatigue report.

Overall, around seven in ten consumers modify their restaurant order in some way, and 69% say the ability to customize is very important to them. Younger consumers lead the trend, particularly on drinks — “a shift driven by the deeply personalized drink culture that has grown up around coffee shops, specialty beverage bars, and cocktail menus,” the report notes. 

Boomers, meanwhile, customize less often; half say they typically order items as listed. But when Boomers do customize, they’re the generation most likely to ask for ingredients omitted or sauces swapped.

Order customization habits vary by segment. Nearly two-thirds of consumers say they “often” or “almost always” personalize their order at QSRs, a rate that is comparatively much lower at more upscale segments like fine dining and bars. Build-your-own formats appear on 10.8% of restaurant menus, up 12% over the past four years, and are most common on chain menus specifically, at 19.5%, according to Datassential’s Menu Trends data.

But the data also points to a limit on how far consumers want to go. When asked about bundled meals, 40% of consumers say they prefer a “mostly set” bundle with just one or two choices built in — the most popular option. Younger consumers are actually the most comfortable letting operators make the choices: Gen Z and Millennials are significantly more likely than older generations to prefer a fully-set bundle, the report found.

About a third of operators actively encourage customization, according to Datassential’s Personalization & Customization report. Another 40% instruct staff to proactively ask guests about changes, while 39% say they will accommodate requests but do not actively promote the option.

Personalization is also extending to portion size, not just ingredients or drinks. Fifty-nine percent of consumers say they would be more likely to visit a restaurant that offers flexible or customizable portion sizes, according to Datassential’s From Plate to Profit report. That shows up in how consumers order: over the course of a month, nearly 30% of diners asked at least once for part of a restaurant meal to be left off entirely so it better matched their appetite.