BUSINESS: Three Ways to Modernize Your Restaurant
The digital revolution has entirely changed each and every industry and the restaurant industry is no exception. Now’s the time to for operators to think about modernizing their business. Of course, there are more ways than one in which you can modernize your restaurant. Today, we share with you three simple ways in which you can easily modernize your restaurant.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Reaching Mars
NASA described the InSight probe's landing as "seven minutes of terror" and cheers erupted in mission control when confirmation finally came through that the probe had survived its perilous descent. Given the money and amount of work put into the endeavor, all of that trepidation is understandable given the high failure rate of previous missions to Mars.
Video Game Sales Extremely Seasonal
While the U.S. video game industry just had its best October on record with total spending more than doubling compared to October 2017, the upcoming weeks will decide whether 2018 will be remembered as a successful year or not. As the following chart shows, video game sales are extremely seasonal. According to the NPD Group, video game spending usually peaks in November and December, with monthly sales that are often more than three times as high as they are during the rest of the year.
Social Media Ad Boom Continues
Despite the fact that platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have come under fire this year for allowing bots and fake profiles to spread false information and sow hatred and division, social media advertising continues to grow in the United States. According to IAB’s latest Internet Advertising Revenue Report, social media ad revenue in the U.S. amounted to $13.1 billion in the first six months of 2018, up 38 percent from the first half of 2017.
I LIKE BEER, A LOT [Clip]
Why it matters to you: How to build the right beer menu.
Craft brewing is not a new phenomenon, but some operators still struggle to manage it. That’s why it’s always a good idea to listen to your peers who execute well. Take Coty Bell of Twin Peaks Restaurant in Dallas who says, “Customers tend to order local above all else, then trickle down to the regional and national beer brands.” Additionally, Andy Husbands of The Smoke Shop in Massachusetts says, “We have guests who want to branch out and experiment [and] those who are excited to come across a hard-to-find beer on draft. We also have plenty of guests who stand by a national brand.”
This means that your list needs to have both cool and esoteric brands alongside some national brands that guests will recognize without effort.
Building your list should be a labor in research. Look at your current sales mix in beer to see what is working and what isn’t. If you are selling 90% domestic national brand draft, then maybe craft brews aren’t an urgent issue in your location. However, if your mix shows there is interest in the more obscure and exciting products it may be time to revamp. As always, we encourage you to use specials to find the right products and prove they are what your guests want. By testing you never place a bad seller and you let guests help you democratically choose your list, by voting with their dollars…just sayin’.
[Source: FSRMagazine]
GET IT TO GO!
Why it matters to you: Online ordering improves your service and guest prefer it.
Have you integrated an online ordering system in your restaurant? Sure, if you are using a third-party delivery partner, they provide a version of it, but are guests visiting your site to place their orders? If they aren’t, there are real benefits to integrated online ordering you should consider. In fact, online ordering is done 30% more than phone ordering. The benefits for the guest (and you) are convenience and accuracy. Ironically, absent the stress of ordering on the phone or live, it turns out guest orders are 26% higher when placed online.
However, the benefits don’t end with a better service experience. You also collect more data on your customers. This data can be used to market to them or anticipate their needs based on their prior visits. The key here is that you control the ordering systems data, not the third-party vendor. An added benefit is that you are driving guests to your restaurant website to place their orders, hence allowing you to expose them to your other marketing messages. The more ways you can drive users to your website the better and online ordering is a seriously effective means making that happen.
[Source: ModernRestaurantManagement]
