How Restaurants are Using Big Data Posted on : May 06 - 2015

With the rise of big data, many industries have seen just how beneficial using large amounts of information can be in improving their businesses. From retail to healthcare to sports to financial, each industry has found something valuable about big data in enhancing both the big picture and the smaller details. So it should probably come as little surprise that the food industry has made significant progress in using big data as well. Perhaps big data doesn’t exactly sound like the right fit for restaurants, but in practice, that hasn’t been the case. Big data provides a wealth of information that, when interpreted correctly, can truly transform any company, fueling growth and encouraging innovation. As can be seen for many restaurants hopping on the big data bandwagon, improvements have been clear and unmistakable while plenty of potential still remains.

Big data essentially allows restaurants to analyze in minute detail every action they take. Those actions can be small, such as a single customer interaction, or they can be expansive, like adopting a completely new business model. When it comes to the food industry, there are three major areas that have seen some of the largest impacts when big data is put to use. The first is an area that big data has positively affected in other industries: marketing. Reaching and attracting new customers is always a challenge for restaurants, whether they’re a new small town diner or a nationwide fast food chain. To truly bring new customers into the fold, restaurants need to get a better understanding of what motivates each individual customer, and few things aid in this pursuit better than big data. For example, big data can be used to gauge social media sentiments on a restaurant, helping that restaurant figure out where best to improve and how to attract the customer that made the comments. Some restaurants go even further, using digital survey tools while customers are at the establishment to gain real-time analysis of the overall customer experience. Use of big data to figure out what makes customers tick leads to more effective marketing campaigns, and it’s a much better method compared to focus groups or comment cards. View more