The foodservice industry is constantly evolving. Restaurants, cafes, bars, fast-food chains and many more are continuously searching for new ways to serve customers better, boost revenue, reduce costs, and stay ahead of the competition. To achieve this, access to the latest data and insights is essential.
Account based data apps are becoming increasingly popular amongst foodservice professionals. Seamless integration of the app into existing systems makes for easy use of data to inform decision-making. Insight-rich reports allows users to track trends, optimize menus, analyze customer behavior, and more – enabling them to accurately understand their market and their customers.
However, along with these advantages come some major risks. In this article, we will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the pros and cons of restaurant account based data apps, and advise on how to ensure successful integration.
Pros
1. Analyses Profitability & Optimizes Menus: Generally, restaurants do not have an organized system to track profitability, and are often surprised when paying too much for ingredients or vendors. But account based data apps provide insights that allow restaurateurs to keep a close eye on each item’s actual cost and accurately calculate the profitability of dishes and drinks. These insights enable them to make more informed decisions about their menus and pricing strategies.
2. Identifies Price Gaps & Improves Customer Experience: Account based data apps can provide insights on exactly how customers are interacting with the venue, their likes and dislikes, and hospitality feedback. This allows restaurateurs to identify any gaps in their services and products or adjust services and pricing accordingly.
3. Tracks Performance & Enhances Brand Awareness: Along with analyzing customer data, account based data apps can also provide in-depth insights about restaurant performance. This helps restaurant owners measure and compare performance against target metrics, taking corrective actions in time if needed. It can also help them track the success of marketing campaigns, and garner brand recognition.
Cons
1. Risk of Data Breaches: Any digital integration comes with the risk of data breaches. These data can contain personal information like credit card numbers, customer contact numbers, emails, and so on. As the frequency of data breaches increases, the regulators are imposing tougher penalties, often making restaurateurs Highly vulnerable.
2. Expense vs. ROI: Utilizing an account based data app is an additional expense. Not only do you incur the cost of buying the app, but you also need to pay for the integration process and train your staff to use it. Besides, you need to be patient as required to see returns. As such, it’s important to do a detailed cost-benefit analysis before investing in a solution.
3. Technical Integration Challenges: Every foodservice business requires a personalized solution, catering to their individual needs and goals. As such, vendors don’t have one single solution that works for everyone. Once you’ve chosen the right app, it needs to be integrated into the existing architecture of the restaurant. The complexity of this integration can vary from simple to very complex. The more complicated this process is, the longer it will take to set up and use the system.
Restaurants have always required robust data to support decision-making. With the technology of account based data available, restaurants have access to their data in real time. The pros associated with the use of the data far outweigh the cons, when effective strategies are put in place to counter the risks.
