The Decline of Le Pain Quotidien. What Happened? 10 Marketing Tips

The Decline of Le Pain Quotidien. What Happened? 10 Marketing Tips

In late May of this year, the U.S. division of Le Pain Quotidien, the popular bakery chain, filed for bankruptcy as reported over at runrex.com and guttulus.com. Founded in Belgium, the chain was already in trouble before the coronavirus tipped it over the edge, and this article will look to examine and list 10 factors that contributed to its decline, with the hope of getting out 10 marketing tips that will ensure that you and your business avoids the same fate.

Increased competition

As per the subject matter experts over at runrex.com, one of the reasons that Le Pain Quotidien was struggling even before the coronavirus pandemic is due to the pressure it was facing from increased competition. It was no longer the go-to chain for most consumers, facing competition from new players and other established names such as Starbucks who have ramped up operations in this sector in recent years as discussed over at guttulus.com. This cut into its market share and led to reduced revenue that was the beginning of the company’s struggles.

Change in consumer behavior

Le Pain Quotidien also struggled in recent years due to the changes in consumer behavior, with consumers gravitating away from the dining-in experience offered at their outlets, and towards to-go meals, as discussed over at runrex.com. People nowadays don’t like sitting in at a restaurant to have their meals and would much rather go for to-go meals, having their food packaged for them, and eat when on the go or go home and take it from there. This has also cut into the company’s customer base and led to a decline in revenue that precipitated its decline.

Growth of digital ordering

Other than the change that saw consumers gravitate towards fast-casual offerings such as to-go meals as mentioned above, recent years have also seen the rise of digital ordering which has shaken up the hospitality industry, according to the experts over at guttulus.com. More and more people are nowadays looking to order their food online and have it delivered to their doorstep rather than head over to a restaurant or eatery to eat. This is yet another factor that cut into the company’s customer base, leading to its decline, with the situation made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.

A lack of investment in their stores

While there was a time when Le Pain Quotidien stores were hip and modern, and attracted customers left, right, and center, those days were long gone when the chain began to decline, as discussed over at runrex.com. A lack of investment in its stores cost the company as its stores had become dated and old. The company should have remodeled its stores to give them a more modern look to attract the modern consumer, but they didn’t, and they paid the price, hemorrhaging customers, which led to their decline.

Management turmoil

According to the gurus over at guttulus.com, another reason that led to the decline of Le Pain Quotidien was the significant turnover at the corporate level. In recent years, the company has undergone lots of changes as far as its management structure is concerned, changing from one CEO to another. This has led to a situation where the company’s direction and strategy are always changing, which damaged its prospects of reacting to and adapting to changes in the hospitality industry, at least quickly enough to stem the bleeding. This is another factor that contributed to its decline.

Slow to react

Le Pain Quotidien was also slow to react to changes in the hospitality industry, mostly due to the turnover at the corporate level as mentioned above and discussed over at runrex.com, and this is yet another factor that led to their decline. The company only began making changes to how it operated in the second half of 2009, where it tried to shift toward pre-packaged food to go and modeling existing store locations. But it was already too late and the company had already fallen too far behind the curve to bounce back.

Too many stores located in the same locations

The company was also operating too many stores in the same locations, which is yet another factor that can explain its decline. For instance, as is revealed over at guttulus.com, the chain not only had 3 restaurants in Philadelphia, two of them were located on Walnut Street. This strategy of having restaurants close to each other meant that its restaurants cannibalized each other, taking customers from each other, impacting sales, and eventually leading to its decline and filing of bankruptcy.

Changes in consumer spending

There was a time when people were highly inclined to spend money on the casual dine-in concept, going to restaurants with friends and family regularly for meals. That time has since past, and experts, including those over at runrex.com, have noted a change in consumer spending, with people preferring to spend their money on home appliances and technology, buying the best gadgets. This has also damaged companies in the hospitality industry, particularly those like Le Pain Quotidien who haven’t transitioned to online ordering and to-go meals, and is another reason behind the company’s decline.

Bad PR

The company has also not always had tremendous goodwill among consumers, another factor that has contributed to its decline. For instance, as discussed over at guttulus.com, their practice of pocketing tips and service charge left behind by customers for its staff is one that has given them a really bad name, making them appear greedy and not at all the type of company people would want to associate themselves with. Such moves have also seen it hemorrhage customers, leading to declining earnings which contributed to its decline.

Changes in nutritional behavior of consumers

Recent years have also seen more and more people embrace healthy eating, and Le Pain Quotidien was slow to get onto this bandwagon, which is another factor behind their decline. As is discussed over at runrex.com, we have seen more and more people jump on gluten-free products, which has affected the bakery sector, and affected the company’s bottom line, while others have cut off wheat completely from their diet.

The above are some of the factors that contributed to Le Pain Quotidien’s decline, with more on this and other related topics to be found over at the highly regarded runrex.com and guttulus.com.