Omnichannel Data for Success: Enhancing Restaurant Performance

In the fast-paced world of quick-service restaurants (QSRs), relying solely on intuition can be risky. Instead, making data-driven decisions is essential for growth and success. As of 2023, nearly 50% of brands have declared plans to update a unified commerce platform for all order channels in the next 2 years. These unified commerce platforms include omnichannel ordering, menu management, pricing and payment management, CRM, kitchen management, inventory management, etc.
 

Adopting an omnichannel software that centralizes data allows for an effective in-depth data analysis. This helps discover ways to reduce costs, by optimizing processes and increasing direct sales through a deeper understanding of customer needs ultimately resulting in increased profitability for the entire restaurant business.

Collect data from every touchpoint

An omnichannel restaurant software is built to centralize customer and order data from 20-500 touchpoints (BCG), including mobile app and website, point of sale (POS) systems, self-order kiosks, and loyalty programs. For instance, when a restaurant chain launches its own website and app, it can gather relevant information about its customers using the right data collection tools. This includes details such as most ordered dishes, favorite combinations, order patterns, peak ordering times, and delivery performances. It costs 5x more to attract a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. In a highly dynamic marketplace, we see that increasing loyalty by 5% can increase profits by 25%.

Choosing a trusted supplier that facilitates extensive data gathering possibilities is essential. In contrast to a multichannel (traditional) setup, which lacks seamless integrations and can result in conflicting data, an omnichannel approach integrates all the channels at once and centralizes the data collection across the whole customer journey. Such an all-in-one system is ideal, as it guarantees a consistent view of at least 150 real-time management reports of data analysis, like top-performing stores, Net Promoter Scores (NPS) scores, labor productivity scores, etc. By having all the data in one central place and available in real-time, restaurant chains gain more accurate insights, resulting in better decision making.
 

Leveraging Data  

There are several ways to harness data for useful insights and practical applications, including identifying profitable customer segments, offering hyper-personalized ordering experiences, and pinpointing areas of improvement within operations.

• Tailored marketing

Utilizing Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager allows access to browsing and commercial data. Restaurant chains that benefit from these tools, can use this data to identify and segment their customer base and analyze patterns, preferences, and demographics providing them with a deep understanding of their unique needs. The data identified is then leveraged into tailored marketing campaigns, personalized offers, and menu innovations to specific customer segments, maximizing engagement and loyalty.

Another important metric that directly impacts profitability  is Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Restaurant chains that have clear insights into these two metrics can determine how much they should invest in acquiring each new customer and how many orders are needed for that customer to become profitable.

• Operational Optimization

Restaurant chains that leverage data to streamline and optimize operational processes see an increase of up to 52% in their restaurants’ Net Promoter Score (NPS) (S4D database, 2024). NPS is a widely used metric for measuring customer loyalty and satisfaction. It helps to identify bottlenecks and areas of improvement, fostering continuous optimization. By implementing leaderboards to compare the data and tracking the right KPIs for each location, headquarters can tackle problematic areas, therefore improving the overall efficiency of their restaurant chain by 15% (S4D database, 2024).

Using data for operational decision-making enables businesses to take immediate and informed actions. Instead of relying on speculation about why sales fluctuate, comprehensive data from various sources allows for swift responses — an essential aspect of the dynamic restaurant industry.

• Personalized Ordering

Personalization is a huge trend. To leverage that in marketing, different AI tools can help. One way can be implementing AI-driven recommendations, which allow restaurant chains to offer exactly what their customers want.

Customers are willing to share their personal data in exchange for personalized offers and discounts. For example, if a customer frequently orders vegetarian dishes, the system can highlight new vegetarian options or similar items they haven’t tried yet. By analyzing purchase history and patterns, AI can predict which items a customer might be interested in purchasing in addition to their main order and recommend better upselling options. With the implementation of AI-driven recommendations, we have seen an increase of 5.21% in conversion rate and 0.34% in Average Order Value (AOV).

Having a holistic overview of all data from all touchpoints allows restaurant chains to enhance every aspect of their business, from customer interactions to preparation and delivery.

Understanding data doesn’t have to be difficult. With an omnichannel software partner that makes sure all your data is centralized and easy to interpret, a restaurant chain is positioned for long-term growth and profitability. For instance, the omnichannel approach has helped one of the biggest pizza chains in Europe to discover that a special promotion—buy one pizza, get one free—increased the number of orders by 36%, ultimately leading to a 25% increase in their yearly revenue.

Omnichannel data is a necessity in today’s ever-evolving restaurant industry. However, one thing is for sure, those who quit relying on pure intuitions, and adopt a data-driven approach for their restaurant chain management, are well-positioned for stable growth and long-term profitability.