When researching local restaurants, there are a variety of factors to consider in order to make an informed decision. Whether it’s for marketing or operations, you want to be sure you’re looking at the right data and gaining the most valuable insights to enhance your bottom line. This article outlines the top 10 things to look for when researching local restaurants in the foodservice market.
Given the diversity and complexity of today’s food service industry, data-driven insights and analytics provide businesses with essential guidance needed to compete globally and locally. With a 360-degree view of customer insights and market intelligence, you can target your restaurant’s audience more effectively and plan successful strategies to grow your business. When researching local restaurants and foodservice markets, here are the top 10 things to keep in mind:
1. Menu & Item Data: The most important data to look for when researching local restaurants is the menu and its items. Be sure to pay attention to ingredients, item pricings, nutrition information and associated allergens. This data is essential for understanding diner preferences and optimizing menu items to meet those needs.
2. Location Data: Location data is also essential for understanding the restaurant’s clientele. Looking for competitive advantages? Analyze the given location’s competition and look into consumer characteristics in the surrounding area. This data can help you better understand who your target consumers are,what foods they prefer, and how best to reach them.
3. Restaurant Visitor Behavior: Knowing the behavior of diners is crucial for understanding how to better serve them. Track and analyze customer related data to understand purchase behavior, loyalty patterns, and also observe how visitors use or experience the restaurant. Restaurants must learn how to deliver a great customer experience and aim to increase customer satisfaction.
4. Online Orders: Digital transformation in the restaurant industry is happening faster than ever. Monitor online order trends to better understand how customers choose to access your restaurant. By understanding the source of online orders, you can better shape your marketing efforts and make strategic decisions to increase online traffic.
5. restaurant technology Advances: With more customers interacting with restaurants digitally, the restaurant industry is investing more heavily in restaurant technology. Analyze market trends in restaurant technology to gain the most out of your digital presence. It is important to recognize the changing restaurant technology landscape to understand customer preferences and make smart investments.
6. Foodservice Market Trends: Get to know the foodservice market in which you are competing. Keep an eye out for trends in menu items, pricing, dining trends, technologies, and customer preferences. This data can help inform decision making when crafting your restaurant’s offerings and strategic goals.
7. Increase Customers & Loyalty: Understand customer loyalty and how to increase it. Analyze current customer interactions and develop strategies to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Identify customer consumer trends and understand how to get customers to return.
8. Acquire Kitchens & Expand Operations: Streamline production innovation and strategically expand the brand using foodservice market intelligence. Analyze the data to gain an advantage over the competition, make informed decisions, and acquire kitchens or expand to new sites.
9. Incentive & Promotion Strategies: Analyze the success of current promotional strategies and incentive plans to get a complete understanding of the customer. Utilizing consumer insights from the market, inform marketing efforts and carefully craft incentives to acquire new customers and retain existing customers.
10. Data Privacy: As an industry leader it is important to understand the legal implications of data processing. Look for data privacy protection to protect the personal information of customers. This will help build trust with customers and safeguards their data from misuse.
With the proper data-driven insights and analytics, you can leverage market intelligence to inform decision-making and achieve success in the restaurant industry. Harness the power of data science and big data analytics with Bristol’s foodservice market insights platform to find the necessary data to assess local restaurants.