Using data as a competitive advantage for your restaurant
Data is a gold mine of insights, which can dramatically add value to your business across the board and give a significant competitive advantage. But how is it that most businesses fail to use their own data (sales, reviews, etc) and miss out on the opportunity to gain insights, make better decisions and ultimately grow?
The aim of this article is to show you that clear data will always triumph over ‘gut’ led decision making. Businesses that use their data properly will always have a competitive edge as they can react faster, forecast better and gain real insight about their business activity.
Four benefits of using data for a competitive advantage in your business.
1. Use social data to increase sales
Did you know that one star social media rating has been shown to drive 7% of additional revenue? By continuously monitoring the data from customer reviews on social sites like Yelp, Google Places, Facebook, Tripadvisor, getting alerted of bad reviews and reacting quickly, you will have a direct impact on sales.
Furthermore, focus on using your social data to raise your customer loyalty and engage more new customers instantly.
2. Use data to reduce your COGS
Data can add value by helping you accurately forecast your future sales. By analysing many factors such as weather, events and past sales performance it is possible to get an accurate forecast which in turn can help you adjust staffing levels, optimise opening hours and reduce wastage.
3. Data will highlight your top staff performers
In hospitality, there is a massive variability in staff performance — 150% variability in check size dependent on employee and a staggering 800% in speed of service. Analysing transactional data can help identify the top performers, ensuring that the best staff are scheduled at the right place at the right time.
4. Data will train better staff
By showing your front line team members data on average customer spend and speed of service you can train staff to perform to a higher level. Data analytics can help you give employees real time feedback on their performance. Furthermore, incentivising staff to outperform the benchmark, will increase sales.
In conclusion, the more data you collect from customers, from your sales and from your employees, the more actionable insights you will receive, which will significantly add value to your business. Developing a data analytics capability by using the best tools such as Tenzo is essential.
Tenzo is a platform that gives hospitality and retail businesses actionable insights from their real time data.
