FSTEC, an annual technology conference for the foodservice industry, took place Oct. 1 – 3 in Orlando, FL. Como had the pleasure of attending the event, meeting with executives from some of the 240+ foodservice operations, and participating in educational and inspirational sessions.
Of all the FSTEC sessions Como leaders attended, one thing remained the focus of most discussions: customer data, the importance of owning it, and how it can help your organization to grow.
“Over the next couple of years, 25 cents of every dollar of restaurant revenue will come from delivery/takeout,” said Noah Glass during an educational panel. Glass is the founder of mobile and online food ordering platform Olo. “Loyalty and owning your customer data are critical to maintaining customers and capturing this revenue,” Glass continued.
With every transaction, delivery services like GrubHub and Caviar are capturing restaurant data analytics and learning more about customers than business owners and merchants. Then, these third-party services can promote competing businesses that are paying to advertise to your customers.
For example, imagine that one of your most loyal customers decides to start digitally ordering your restaurant’s food through a third-party delivery service. That service begins to collect valuable data on the customer’s buying habits but then starts to display ads for competing restaurants, luring the once loyal customer away from your business.
Related Reading: 6 Ways Data Can Boost Restaurant Sales
The importance of owned customer data is supported by recent industry trends and conversations around what you can do with the data to help your organization grow. Mistakenly, many people in the foodservice and hospitality industries assume that the loyalty club concept is the only way to collect customer data, but there is a better way.
Como Sense, a customer engagement toolset with a POS integration is pioneering a new logged-in customer approach, enabling brick & mortar businesses to more easily gather actionable insights and send targeted promotions without requiring a mandatory app download, lowering the barrier to entry.
How can customer engagement tools help a business benefit from owned data?
- Make better decisions with data: You should utilize your first-party data to support all business decisions, especially when it comes to your marketing efforts. Data-driven decision-making will provide you the confidence you need to make quick decisions based on hard numbers, rather than a hunch. For example, supply chain and inventory management becomes more efficient and predictable when data allows you to look for patterns and correlations that were otherwise hidden.
- Find new opportunities for growth: By using data to analyze the performance of your entire operation, you can quickly identify areas for growth while, at the same time, minimizing wasteful activities. For example, you could determine which items are most popular with customers, and promote them with additional offers to increase spend, or send offers for complementary products. You could also use targeted offers to increase sales and raise awareness when launching a brand new product.
- Maximize the value of each customer: Every customer is different, and customer engagement tools like Como Sense make it easy to segment based on purchase behavior. Highly loyal customers will require a smaller incentive to come back and increase spend, as opposed to a customer who has only made a single purchase and will likely need a more substantial incentive.
- Gain a competitive edge: A comprehensive set of actionable insights gives a business the ability to stay ahead of the competition by being able to look around corners and know what’s coming. Businesses are also able to leverage the value of their owned data and foresight for collaborations with third parties, potentially creating new ongoing sources of revenue.
Como Sense is a comprehensive customer engagement toolset that enables restaurants to collect first-party customer data and transform it to growth through personalized campaigns and experiences that increase customer loyalty and spend. Como integrates with 80+ POS systems worldwide. Start gathering actionable insights needed to nurture existing clients and increase customer retention, make smarter business decisions, and drive long-term sales growth.
Contact Como to find out more about how you can use data-driven campaigns to help your business grow.
Adam Dvir
As Como’s Data Group Manager, Adam lives and breathes machine learning algorithms and advanced analytics. He’s currently busy developing and perfecting Como’s insights and recommendation engine.
