TECH: How Tech Is Transforming Restaurant Loyalty Programs
According to a 2016 “brand loyalty report,” American individuals take part in a total of 6.7 loyalty programs at any given time. Restaurants and other food companies represent a significant portion of these memberships. However, not all of these loyalty programs are “succeeding” in a way that’s measurable beyond “enrolled participants.” And restaurant loyalty programs might be leaving a lot of money on the table if they’re not taking advantage of modern technologies. Here’s what you should know about modernizing your restaurant’s loyalty program.
DID YOU KNOWS…
What’s the Best Comb to Eat Salad?
Dem Senator Amy Klobuchar came under fire after it was reported that she ate a salad on the plane with her comb and then had a staff member clean it. The whole incident leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but Eater has tried to take on the biggest of them all – what kind of comb did Klobuchar use to eat her salad?
Countries with Most Satellites
According to The Union of Concerned Scientists, 1,957 satellites are orbiting Earth. 830 of them belong to the United States, 280 are Chinese and 147 are from Russia. 846 satellites are for commercial use while 302 have military applications.
AI Guesses Meals
Artificial Intelligence can do a lot of cool things. And then there’s things we don’t even think about like AI generating food photos based on what the recipe calls for. Here are the results. They look tasty!
DID SOMEBODY SAY UPDATE?
Why it matters to you: Don’t let your website miss important elements by reviewing it.
Here’s a hard question for you: When is the last time you reviewed and reconsidered your website? When Facebook exploded on to the digital scene 15 years ago, many people were convinced that their website didn’t matter anymore. To be direct, that was a mistake. Your website is an incredible resource for your guests, especially when you include services like online ordering or a reservation booking. Your site is where you control the look and feel. If you are relying exclusively on your social media for conveying your story, frankly, you are falling short. But how do you go about reviewing your site and updating or rebuilding it? Won’t it be expensive and take a really long time to do?
These are all valid questions. Here are some answers. Start by determining what the best practices are for restaurant websites. This primer from POS provider, Toast, is a great review of all the elements necessary to create a website that reflects your restaurant and gives guests a reason to visit. With websites like SquareSpace and Wix even the least interested or digitally capable among you can build a site that will reflect well on your business. They have templates that will allow you to include all the best practices you want to include and are incredibly inexpensive to build and maintain. That is important so that details like is your site mobile ready or disability accessible are included in your sites capabilities. No matter what you do about your site, doing nothing will ensure that nothing will get better.
[Source: Toast]
WORKING NINE TO FIVE [Song]
Why it matters to you: Women in our industry discuss work-life balance.
If you are a woman in the restaurant industry, you must be particularly heroic. In an industry infamous for the number of hours our managers must work, finding the ability to care for your family or yourself can be a tall order. At some point, something has got to give. So, what can you do? As a man, I would never presume to give advice to a woman on how to balance her life; however, you might turn to some role models in our industry that are leading and still living their lives. Of course the irony is that most of the women quoted in this gallery dedicated to how they manage aren’t actually managing.
That either proves there is no chance for work-life balance or that they have realized it’s a myth that needs a retelling. Consider Martha Hoover’s approach -- who owns six restaurants in the Indianapolis market -- that there is no balancing and only integrating. Her claim is that the only path to balance is trying to integrate your family and work so you can enjoy both or either. Sometimes you’ll be successful and sometimes the needs of one will overtake the other. Either way, there is something to learn from someone who is successful in both work and life.
[Source: FSR Magazine]