We share a few easy ways to increase your restaurant’s data flow, without disturbing your hungry customers.
The ways that customers are interacting with restaurants is changing. The digital tsunami that’s swept nearly every industry on the planet hasn’t spared the food industry, and this was accelerated by Covid.
By 2024, it is forecast that in the UK, 13.1 million people will be using online food delivery services. In a US study 85% of local consumers will view a restaurants website before they choose which restaurant to eat at.
This digital creep has positioned data as a critical driver of restaurant success. Restaurants need to leverage analytics to improve the online experience. In order to push more diners into their restaurants, or to order from them online, and to create engaging, personalised marketing campaigns that increase conversions.
But how do you do that? What are some ways that restaurants can capture more customer data to make better business decisions?
If you’ve been tasked with gathering more diner data, it can seem like an incredibly difficult task. Don’t worry! We’ll go over a few easy ways to increase your restaurant’s data flow without disturbing those hungry customers.
Over 1 billion visits to restaurants each year can be attributed to online marketing. That’s a significant portion of the restaurant industry that’s entirely digitally driven. These figures don’t even include the vast number of online-only orders, which were rapidly swelling even before Covid.
Modern restaurants win with data. It’s the fuel that powers marketing campaigns, and it’s the match that lights the customer experience dynamite.
To be fair, restaurants have always cared about data. In the 50s, savvy waiters would remember customer names and food orders. In the early 80s, the first POS systems would display the orders for the day, and restaurants would leverage that information to improve food prep and throughput. But today, restaurants have to care about data on a broad scale.
With the right data, you can meet customers at every touchpoint. That means sending them highly relevant marketing material, adjusting menus to meet their preferences, and leveraging data to deliver superior dine-in and take-out experiences.
But to use all of this rich data, you have to find a way to capture it.
“Gone are the days of trying to figure out what millennials want versus boomers. We want to know what Mary wants versus Susan, and we need an unprecedented amount of data, analytics, and machine-learning to utilise this data in the best possible way.”
Sherif Mityas, Chief Experience Officer, TGI Fridays
Let’s talk about a few ways you can gather more data from diners online and in-store. When you go about capturing diner data, there are three things you’re looking to do.
Let’s go over a few digital strategies for gathering data. If you’re having any issues figuring out how to capture and use this data, we recommend checking out the Gravity Forms WordPress Plugin. It has some nifty integrations with MailChimp and Campaign Monitor, which are really useful for the email marketing side of data acquisition.
Everyone loves free food! The term “free birthday food” has grown significantly year-over-year on Google Trends. Creating a birthday incentive program is a great way to score data.
Customers will give you their emails, birthdays, and tons of other useful demographic data. In fact, you can attach some preference quizzes to the fill-out form to grab even more useful data. There are plenty of tools that you can use to automate the entire birthday promotion (usually by sending out emails on their birthdays).
Vouchers/coupons are another great way to grab customer data while simultaneously providing customers with value. Let’s make something clear — you’re not losing money by offering a discount. In fact, let’s go over a few of the ways you’re actually gaining value.
So, not only are vouchers a great way to get people to sign up and share some of their delicious data. But, they drive traffic. Bringing in fresh faces and repeat business, and you don’t even have to give them the discount up-front!
Vouchers are incredibly powerful marketing tools.
Your restaurant should definitely be interested in capturing customer emails. Some studies have shown that restaurant email marketing can have returns as high as £61 for every £1 spent.
But getting those emails can be a pain. Mailing lists are probably the easiest way, but how do you get hungry diners to sign up?
Another great way to capture data is to include some website popups. These can be for mailing lists or discounts. As soon as the diner sees it, they’re offered a discount for signing up.
The average conversion rate for popups sits around 3%. But, some of the higher performing ones can hit as high as 11%. These are an easy way to display your mailing list to those who didn’t come looking for it.
Think exclusive clubs are just for fancy golf courses and Michelin-starred eateries? Think again! Thousands of restaurants around the UK offer clubs for their diners. Typically, diners can expect a few coupons or freebies throughout the year if they sign up.
Some restaurants even offer permanent discounts. But that’s harder to justify when the average restaurant’s margin is only 3-5%.
You don’t even have to offer coupons. Kraft, Wegmans, and hundreds of other food suppliers offer free recipes for signups. If diners love your food, grabbing a recipe can be as good (or better) than a quick discount.
Referral bonuses are an easy way to collect some quick data. They also drive traffic to your restaurant. 64% of adults say that refer-a-friend programs make them want to eat at a restaurant. Refer a friend gives your loyal customers rewards, brings in new customers, and gives you a chance to capture the data of two diners at once.
That’s a win!
Don’t let your website have all the fun. Get staff on-board with some of these data collection tips.
Loyalty programs are big business. 69% of consumers say that they will choose a retailer or restaurant, if they are able to accrue loyalty points with them. 87% of shoppers WANT to join a loyalty program.
You better believe that they will be willing to part with some data to do it. Offer loyalty cards for discounts at the register. People will happily hand over their email addresses (and more!)
Chances are, you have WiFi at your restaurant to handle your tech stack. But, how about opening that WiFi up to the public? Your diners can play games on their phone while waiting for their food, and you can have them fill out some information to gain access. You can quickly grab some emails, names, and more with this method.
Plus, you’re adding value to their eating experience. 73% of diners think that technology improves their dining experience.
Apple, New Look and Argos use this method to grab customer data. Ask your customers if they would like their receipt emailed to them. It sounds simple, but there’s a ton of benefit packed into offering digital receipts.
Restaurants need data. It helps you create personalised campaigns, understand food preferences, maximise kitchen workflows, and drive sales. When it comes to collecting data, you have to think outside-the-box.
Leverage your website and digital assets to create mailing lists, offer vouchers, push out popups, and position free food in order to grab that critical data.
Use your restaurant staff to grab critical sit-down data using loyalty programs, Wifi, and digital receipts. Collecting data doesn’t have to be difficult.
Are you looking for a partner to help you set up forms, popups, a public, or Wifi that collects critical diner data? Contact us.
We can also recommend our trusted email marketing partners, for creative and successful email campaigns and automation.
