Data is the key to improving any business. Keeping track of sales on its own is certainly not enough for a restaurant to thrive in the modern day economy. There are many factors that contribute to the overall success or failure of a business. Especially with real-time data, it becomes very easy to keep track of all these factors and know when and what to iterate.
Real-Time Sales
Sales is the first indicator of success for restaurants. Volatility between daily sales could be important for a restaurant to understand its customers’ patterns. Creating routine or seasonal specials curated for this pattern would definitely help increase sales. The revenue share among different groups of items could be a great way to determine the strengths/weaknesses of the restaurant. Desserts may perform better during certain days/hours and salads may not be preferred altogether! It is important for a business owner to understand how and why these patterns occur to eliminate losses.
What are they looking at?
Guests purchasing an item from your menu is one thing. But what about all the other options they checked before deciding on what they want to have? It is just as important to know which items intrigue your guests just as much as what they actually order. Comparing view counts from a digital menu platform with the actual sales could give you results you’d never think! A high view count along with low sales could mean that you should consider making some changes to the recipe, presentation or the price. Or you could promote a certain dish with low view count to make sure it’s seen by all guests.
Thank you, come again!
Table turnover is another crucial success indicator for restaurants. We want our guests to enjoy themselves and have the best experience possible, while spending the optimal amount of time sitting at the table. How long does it take for a group of guests to make themselves comfortable, place their order, enjoy their food and leave? Is it too short that they cannot get the best experience or is it much longer than what is best for us? Does this change for certain tables or with certain servers? Keeping time on checks could give restaurateurs great insight on the overall experience of each guest and the ideal time to maximize profit.
What’s the dining experience worth?
The average ticket size shows how much your guests are willing to spend during their visit. The total price is paid not just for the food but for the overall experience. Does the average spend change on certain days? Or does a specific table have a higher average spend than the others? How does this vary among servers? Answers to these questions may help realize small issues that could turn to serious problems in the future.
Ensuring Service Quality
35% of restaurateurs say that training staff is a top challenge. No matter how good the staff is trained, turnover is a huge issue with a 75% rate. This means that even though a customer is familiar with your business, they will probably be new to the staff. So it is very important to keep track of how employees perform as well. This can either be through feedback, which can be very subjective, or with numbers which are very straightforward! The average number of tables each employee serves along with the average check they bring will lead the way.
Making More Profit with a Data-Driven Menu
