Which type of social marketing is best for your industry?

August 10, 2018 by Leave a Comment

“Understanding how your content and campaigns are performing against the competition will help you to stay competitive and ahead of current and evolving social media trends and consumer behavior.

Although pictures remain to be the most popular with the highest engagement rates on Facebook, video performs increasingly well and should remain part of the equation. Reposting and sharing photos of consumers who use your product is a great way to generate more photo content while connecting to people who already support and endorse your brand.”

See full article here.

Filed Under: Enterprise Insight, Operations

Restaurants need a new recipe for wages and menu prices

August 9, 2018 by Leave a Comment

“If tips don’t bring a worker’s hourly pay up to $13—not uncommon at cheap eateries, nail salons and car washes—the employer must make up the difference. But enforcement is difficult; low-wage workers are afraid to file complaints. A single, more easily enforced base wage is a better way to level the playing field so that law-abiding businesses are not undercut by competitors who shortchange staff. Some dishonest or marginally profitable places would close, creating opportunities for establishments that offer decent pay and working conditions. But the tipped wage must be phased out slowly to give owners and customers time to adjust.”

Read full article here.

Filed Under: Enterprise Insight, Operations

The Biggest Business Credit Card Mistakes to Avoid

August 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment

credit card machine

“Few experiences in business are universal, but here’s one that is: running a company isn’t cheap. In fact, it requires a lot of capital—often, up front, even when you’re not generating any revenue to speak of. Thankfully, business credit cards make it easy for owners and employees to make purchases without having to worry about their daily checking account balance getting out of whack. Charging purchases on a business credit card does more than just free up cash: it also allows you to take advantage of special perks, membership bonuses, and even low- or no-APR rates.

But for all of the perks of a small business credit card, there are also a number of pitfalls. Some come in the form of missed opportunities, such as picking a card that doesn’t offer you perks and points in categories that match your purchases. Other mistakes—such as paying for long-term investments with a credit card—can be much more costly. Here are a few of the biggest business credit card mistakes to avoid.”

See more here.

Filed Under: Enterprise Insight, Global Market Buzz, Operations

Calorie Counts on Menus Slow Down Some Diners

August 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Better data leads to better decision-making — except when it comes to dessert.

Calorie counts printed on restaurant menus prompt diners to consume less. Cornell University’s John Cawley and his co-authors collected detailed data from two restaurants, taking down numbers on everything from individual food orders to whether patrons shared a plate over the course of thousands of visits. They found that printed calorie information reduced calories ordered by 3 percent (or 45 calories a meal, roughly equivalent to a large plum or an Oreo cookie). That decrease came from entrees and appetizers, not from drinks or desserts.

See more here.

 

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Operations

Walmart Automates Online Order Picking

August 6, 2018 by Leave a Comment

As the popularity of online grocery ordering continues to rise, Walmart has partnered with North Billerica, Mass.-based Alert Innovation to introduce Alphabot into the picking process as the retailer’s latest technological innovation.

The first-of-its-kind automation, developed for Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart, helps store pickers speed up the process of filling online grocery orders, It’s being introduced in the mega-retailer’s Salem, N.H., Superstore as part of the location’s grand reopening.
A 20,000-square-foot extension was built onto the store to house the technology and serves as a dedicated grocery pickup point with drive-thru lanes for customers.

See more here.

Filed Under: Operations

Online shopping reaches 5.5% of total grocery sales

July 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Online spending has reached 5.5 percent of total grocery spending in the United States, with current shoppers at online grocers driving most of the growth by increasing order sizes. But a new report warns that even though supermarkets are in a “strong position” to serve this demand, Amazon is challenging by linking its grocery services to Prime discounts and investing in Whole Foods Market.

Grocery shoppers that use online services most actively increased their weekly online spending as a part of total weekly grocery spending from 28 percent in 2017 to 46 percent in 2018, according to the new study, published by Brick Meets Click and sponsored by Winooski, Vt.-based grocery ecommerce platform MyWebGrocer.

Additionally, with the nearly 30 percent of U.S. households that already grocery shop online, average order size increased $62 in 2017 to $69 in 2018, while both penetration and order frequency remained relatively flat. This suggests that current users will drive near-term growth.

Read more here.

Filed Under: Operations

Essential Restaurant Reports To Keep You On Track

July 30, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Big data is a big deal, especially in the restaurant industry. Because almost everything nowadays is trackable, restaurant reports give managers and operators access to an unprecedented number of juicy operational insights that can help them take their business to the next level.

The thought of having a world of data at your fingertips can sometimes feel intimidating or even overwhelming, but it should always feel exciting. Understanding the what, why, and how of restaurant reporting opens new doors of opportunity for you and your business.

Read more here.

Filed Under: Enterprise Insight, Operations

Why $5 deals resonate with quickserve customers

July 27, 2018 by Leave a Comment

“Chicken chain KFC has its $5 Fill Ups. Subway brought back its famous $5 Footlong sandwiches this winter. Little Caesars boasts a $5 Lunch Combo and Taco Bell has its $5 Buck Boxes. Plus, there are Dairy Queen’s $5 Buck Lunch and Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s $5 All Star Meals that debuted in September.”

“Psychologically, $5 still seems like not lot of money. It’s just a denomination of a bill,” said Ravi Dhar, director of the Center for Customer Insights at the Yale School of Management. “It can make it easier than if you’re spending $5.50 and you have to break a $10. You’re spending 50 cents more, but it feels like more.
That sense of getting a bargain is significant, especially among millennials.”

Read more here.

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Operations, Shopbuzz

McDonald’s Takes Aim at Big Labor Problem

July 26, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Quick-service giant McDonald’s, which employs some 850,000 individuals across the U.S. either directly or through its franchise partners, is beginning to craft thoughtful, calculated solutions to a problem affecting its restaurants and other businesses across the country.

As a large and prominent U.S. employer, McDonald’s understands it has a leading role to play in addressing the soft skills gap, Kersey says. To that end, the Chicago-based corporation has already taken action to modernize its training programs for restaurant employees, including the debut of digital training that places a greater focus on hospitality and prioritizes teaching people skills like customer service and teamwork while emphasizing attitude and communication.

Soft skills developed in first jobs, Kersey says, establish a strong foundation from which employees can build upon over the course of their working lives, which heightens the value of McDonald’s efforts—and those of many others—to address the soft skills gap.

View full article here.

Filed Under: Enterprise Insight, Heard on The Street, Operations

Yelp to go national with health inspection program

July 26, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Yelp is planning to bring more than just user-generated reviews to your screen.

Yelp will be nationally expanding its LIVES program, which displays health inspection information of various businesses. Launching the program in 2013 for San Francisco-area restaurants, Yelp collaborates with local governments and HDScores, a platform that aggregates health inspection reports nationwide, to display health scores on a 0-100 scale to users.

Since the launch of LIVES, Yelp has inserted health scores to 200,000 business pages. The company said in a blog post that this number will more than triple, as it added data for more restaurants in New York, California, Texas, Illinois and Washington, D.C., today. Yelp plans to continue to roll out updates across various states in the coming months.

See more here.

Filed Under: Heard on The Street, Operations, Opportunities
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