4 ways restaurant data helps you grow sales

Personalization is the buzzword of the 21st century. Everyone wants to feel like what they’re getting was made just for them. Enter data-driven marketing, an approach that uses the information gathered from customer sales to personalize future interactions with them. The result: guests feel more connected to your brand because you “know” what they like.

Using Heartland Restaurant, you can uncover diners’ habits and other customer trends that will allow you to customize guest interactions, loyalty programs and the customer experience. Within this restaurant data analytics resides the “voice” of the buyer, which can help you grow sales at your restaurant in four ways.

Four ways to use data to grow your restaurant sales

1. Customized offerings for your restaurant customers

The key to restaurant success is repeat purchases. You need to get a new customer to dine at your establishment four times before it joins their shortlist of places to eat. For your current loyalists, you want to shorten the interval between visits, and you want to incentivize them to spend more when they come in.

You can accomplish this using restaurant data about who your customers are, their preferences and which items they order in conjunction with other things. For example, many customers will place similar orders each time they dine with you. Heartland Restaurant gives you these insights into customers so you can tailor menu suggestions and special offers. Additionally, it shares data on how frequently diners visit and how much they tend to spend. Now you can target premium customers with personalized loyalty rewards to bring them back more often. You can also lure less frequent visitors with discounts on popular or new items.

2. Maximize customer value

Enhancing the customer experience is another way data can boost sales. With Heartland Restaurant, you can view purchase history, loyalty and account balances, so the person who orders the same combo meal once per week, can be sent a limited-time promotion to encourage a second weekly visit. You could also send an upsell offer for an add-on item, such as an appetizer or dessert, to get them to explore new options.

Additionally, you can suggest a coffee or snack to a guest who only orders kid’s meals, presuming that the paying adult might enjoy a small treat as well. Or you can send the person a special offer, such as a family discount for dining together.

3. Menu changes based on customer trends and feedback

With Heartland Restaurant, you can access restaurant sales data, so you know exactly what menu items sell the best and can pair them with a new or less popular one to build interest. Getting an extra $1.50 out of your menu 125 times a day each year adds up to almost $70,000 – so, it pays to analyze data and uncover opportunities. Our customized restaurant data analytics reports allow you to investigate meal popularity and profitability as well as trending menu items, such as healthier choices, vegetarian friendly and organically grown options. Sales data will tell you what the most popular price point is and reveal the frequently requested dietary needs and allergens to avoid in recipes.

4. Traffic Patterns and Staffing Adjustments

Sales data shows your busiest parts of the day and week, customer service times and which team members upsell the most. These insights into average service time relative to customer demand allow you to staff your restaurant more efficiently. You may find that you can get by with a smaller crew during slow times and can boost sales by scheduling your best up-sellers for busy times. Conversely, you can build data-driven marketing plans to increase traffic during quieter periods of the week. For example, you can offer a special price on products that a customer really likes during slower hours.

The true power of data emerges when it is fully integrated into your marketing plans. Using a restaurant point of sale like Heartland Restaurant gives the data you need at your fingertips, so you can create personalized offers based on your customers’ previous purchase history – increasing sales and growing your business.

Get in touch with us to learn more about Heartland Restaurant, our restaurant POS systems and technology solutions.

Heartland helps nearly 1,000,000 entrepreneurs make and move money, manage employees and engage customers with human-centered technology solutions that allow them to rise above the daily grind and lead their businesses into a brighter future. Learn more at heartland.us