What are the Key Restaurant Analytics Questions You Should Ask?

Best Restaurant Analytics

The foodservice industry is an ever-growing and evolving ecosystem. With rapid technological innovation, consumer demand shifts, and industry-wide changes, it can be hard to keep track of the important trends and analytics that inform decisions. From menu data to restaurant technology, sales prospecting, and more, using restaurant analytics to make decisions is often the key to success.

For foodservice distributors and businesses looking to grow, understanding the various restaurant analytics and the questions to ask to analyze them is essential. By developing the right tactics, strategies, and expertise to navigate the complexities of the restaurant industry, businesses can maximize their opportunities for success.

In this article, tour through the common restaurant analytics questions and explore how businesses can leverage analytics to their advantage.

1. What Is My Market Share and How Can I Increase It?

The first step for businesses looking to increase their market share is understanding how much of the market they currently own. With restaurant analytics, businesses can get precise numbers for their market share in a variety of categories such as chain restaurants or independent businesses.

Businesses can leverage the specific data they have on their customers to gain insight into customer preferences, likes, and dislikes, and develop tactics and strategies to increase their market share.

For example, if a company tracks customer data across countries, identifying the countries most popular with their customer base and making extra effort to maximize sales in those locations can increase market share.

When leveraging restaurant analytics, understanding what type of customer wants your product or service is integral to gaining insight and discovering new opportunities.

2. What Kind of Insight Drives My Business Decisions?

Analyzing the information you have on hand about customer preferences, types of food they order, and any offered services or amenities can inform effective decision-making.

Often, businesses have a wealth of insight into their customers that they are unaware of. Analyzing information such as the customer’s location, type of restaurant, days and times they order, or menu items they order can reveal important trends that can be leveraged into decisions.

Identifying key components that drive sales and success for your business can help inform future strategies as well.

For example, if the majority of your customers frequent one type of restaurant more than another, you can lean your marketing efforts and focus more on that type of establishment.

3. What Are the Most Effective Ways to Reach Customers?

Using restaurant analytics, businesses can develop and leverage effective marketing campaigns and strategies tailored to their customer base.

As an example, if a restaurant is looking to expand its reach, it can utilize customer information to segment its customer base by interest, location, demographics, etc. and develop targeted campaigns for each segment.

This enables the business to customize its message and reach the right people while simultaneously leveraging data to track and monitor response and effectiveness.

Similarly, analyzing rival customers’ data to gain valuable insights into how your business performs in comparison is equally as important. Understanding how customers interact with competitor products and services can reveal key opportunities to increase success and gain an edge in the market.

4. What Technology Should I Implement?

Technology plays an increasingly important role in the foodservice industry. With the right technology, contractors, restaurants, and distributors can automate many of the processes that were once done manually.

By leveraging restaurant analytics, businesses can identify areas of their operation that can benefit from automation and technology and determine the best strategies for implementation.

For example, if a restaurant’s analytics reveal that most customers prefer to get their orders through delivery apps, it may be an indication that investing in a procurement system and integrating it with a delivery app can save the restaurant time and money.

The foodservice industry is dynamic and ever-changing, and by utilizing restaurant analytics to make informed decisions, businesses can stay ahead of the game.

Using comprehensive market insights, data-driven industry knowledge, and restaurant tech best practices, businesses can take the guesswork out of key decision-making and maximize their opportunities for success.