The restaurant industry is one of the most competitive sectors on the planet earth, but with such demand comes a significant level of workload, which means that to thrive --- or indeed survive --- getting ahead of the competition is essential. The modern Restaurant Management and the National Restaurant Association revealed that around 60,000 new restaurants open every year. But shockingly 50,000 closed their doors each year. Although there is not a quick answer to this problem. But with the help of data analytics we can try to overcome this problem. Restaurant analytics is the concept of analyzing all of the data related to your restaurant business and processing it into actionable insights with the help of business intelligence software that will lead to significantly improved efficiency. This can be really beneficial for restaurant owners and managers to sharpen` their competitive edge, increase their profitability, reduce their costs and lastly grow their customer base and satisfaction.
Below is the list of data analytics websites that in my opinion offer the best Analytics and resources to help you with your restaurants industry.
1. Compass4Restaurant (www.Compass4Restaurant.com)
The solution offers competitive analysis & industry benchmarking through 350+ algorithms. It compares all-important KPIs and identifies areas of improvement for restaurant owners and restaurant managers. Compass4Restaurant provides key Restaurant Analytics compared with Industry Standards and Market Competition to enhance decision making. Restaurants around the world use this tool to analyze their performance compared with Competitive Analysis and Industry Benchmarking for sales, Per Person Average (PPA), Average Check Traffic, RevPas (Revenue Per Available Seat), Per hour and many other critical indicators to analyze performance. In addition to online Data Analytics features, CompasRestaurant also generates special Restaurant Specific Reports to highlight specific areas of improvement in the restaurant, which are sent in PDF format to all restaurants on a weekly and monthly basis. Compass4Restaurant is the only solution that offers all analytics & reporting to the restaurant industry for FREE and is used by many restaurants around the world, therefore the competitive analytics make more sense due to larger amount of data available.
2. Blackbox Intelligence (www.blackboxintelligence.com/)
Black Box Intelligence showcases data and insights products created to simplify the lives of restaurant owners through different operations. They are currently serving the restaurant industry with metrics covering revenue, expense, and consumer data. They mainly provide weekly reports and drill down capability with industry benchmarks based on the latest operational results. Their data yields incredible insights and help their customers make decisions in the areas of sales operation, marketing and Human resource. Blackbox Intelligence offers a yearly and a monthly package to its customers. Blackbox is mainly focused on large US Restaurant chains and therefore, if you are not a US business, probably this solution is not for you. Pricing varies for each of their product, once subscribe to their website customers can start receiving exclusive insights from quarterly performance reviews with an analyst, as well as competitive scorecard that captures what differentiates top sales performers in the restaurant industry by combining financial, workforce and social data.
3. Mingora Consult (www.mingora.org/)
Mingora Consult combines the power of data with deep knowledge and connections within the global restaurant industry to develop innovative products that transform restaurants business and industry performances. Mingora Consult has divided their operations into 4 different categories.
1. Mingora Sales: This only shows weekly reports and a tool to understand sales and transaction trends.
2. Mingora Crest: This tracks all prepared meals, snacks, and drinks from commercial premises and workplace.
3. Franchising: This leverages its extensive network of global connections to make board level introductions.
4. Mingora Advisory: This sets the groundwork for brands to embark on global expansion plans particularly in market
Mingora sets the groundwork for brands to embark on global expansion plans particularly in developing markets. Company provides research and strategy by fully reaching on consumer insights-led strategy development based not on opinions but on real actionable data. Mingora is mainly used in UAE, and has over 40 brands currently. Mingora charges can vary depending on the categories you have chosen. You can also get weekly report about your restaurant which is included in the subscription.
4. Fishbowl (www.fishbowl.com/)
Fishbowl offers data analytics solutions for the restaurant industry. The company’s analytic solution is designed to help restaurants drive predictable sales and profitability by using data sources such as email or loyalty member databases, guest transaction links, POS transactions, and survey results. Restaurants can predict dining behavior and preferences based on past engagement and transaction activity. They can also evaluate the real value of their loyalty programs and determine whether the limited time discounts they publish are working in their favor or not. They maximize the value of relationships between your brands with tools that enhance the brand experience both in store and out store. The fishbowl offers monthly and yearly subscriptions to its consumers. Fishbowl mainly is used to USA so if you are not running a business in the USA, they might not be able to help you in a unique and knowledgeable way.
5. PosIQ (www.posiq.net/)
PosIQ is a Data Analytics Solution that automates learning and provides restaurants with the ability to engage consumers with targeted messages and products. PosIQ develops restaurant software that integrates directly with existing point of sale systems to enable new features including mobile loyalty programs, online marketing, mobile offers redeemable on the phone, and analytics to track how it all influences a restaurant’s bottom line. The company collects data, present the insights, and enables the marketing for even biggest operations. They constantly add new data sources – such as nearby community gatherings, sporting events and even televisions schedules which they analyze in order to give their customers exactly what they need. It associates individual guests to transactions. Restaurants can track engagement through receipts, reservations, check-ins, WIFI, credit cards, and more. PosIQ leverages big data and advanced technology to help restaurants communicate and engage in an incredibly personalized way. Measuring the results of online advertisement, social media, coupons, restaurants can know the result of how many people actually responded to their campaigns and how much money each customer actually spent. PosIQ offers their services through different subscriptions, the price varies from $99.00 to $199.00.
In my opinion all these solutions offer somewhat the same services with deep knowledge and understanding of how you can run a successful restaurant and have everything organized. Out of these 5 best solutions, my personal opinion based on usage and focus on industry benchmarking & competitive analytics, I suggest using Compass4Restaurants since it’s an international solution, not focused on specific country or type of restaurant, it's also FREE for restaurant industry and above all it considered to be the largest source of Restaurant Industry Benchmarking & Competitive Analytics so far. Whereas other tools are also great to explore and engage based on countries you are in and the type of solution you are looking for.
If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment.