Welcome back! Today we’ll be discussing the power of big data, as the second installment of our three-week series on restaurant technology trends.
So what is big data? You might get different answers from different people, but here’s a basic one-sentence definition that sums it up fairly well: Big data is a collection of data from traditional and digital sources inside and outside your company that represents a source for ongoing discovery and analysis.
This means that web behavior, social media interactions, financial records, transactions, call center information and point-of-sale, are all inputs to big data. All these metrics, brought together, are what puts the “big” in big data.
The wealth of data that can result is amazing! By compiling and analyzing these data points and interactions, restaurant managers can determine whether service and food quality is up to customers’ expectations. They can identify previously unnoticed trends like which menu items are surging or trailing off in popularity. Which servers seem to get the most negative marks? How do various locations perform against one another? A dive into big data can answer questions you didn’t even know you needed the answer to (but you do!).
With today’s real-time analytics, the possibilities are bounded only by your imagination. Virtually any question you have about making your restaurant more profitable, from operational efficiencies to customers’ real thoughts on your product, can be answered by consulting the right set of data.
Every enterprise needs to fully understand big data – what it is to them, what is does for them, what it means to them – and the potential of data-driven marketing, starting today. Do not wait. Waiting will only delay the inevitable and make it even more difficult to unravel the confusion.
Once you start tackling big data, you’ll learn what you don’t know and you’ll be inspired to take steps to resolve any problems. Best of all, you can use the insights you gather at each step along the way to start improving your customer engagement strategies; that way, you’ll put big data marketing to work and immediately add more value to both your offline and online interactions, thus, increasing your bottom line.
Thanks for stopping by! Join us next week as we wrap up our series with a discussion on real-time ordering for inventory.
If you need a recap or missed the first installment, check out our post about the Internet of Things.
Need to pass the time before our next post? Check out Custom Business Solutions for all your restaurant technological needs!
