Dining on Big Data: How Data Analytics is Changing the Restaurant Industry

Last Updated March 28, 2024

Big Data is changing the way the restaurant industry works and thrives. In its report on the top “business-shaping forces” for 2018, Restaurant Business Online put the implementation of Big Data at number four, stating, “Data drives everything.”

From personalized marketing and menus to smart kitchen tech, to deep demographic dives, analyzing and implementing strategies based on Big Data is now the standard of the restaurant industry. New independents and emerging chains are using their tech-savvy and agile size to become competitive, while familiar legacy brands are going all-in on data-driven analytics to maintain market share and grow new customers.

Gathering and Using Big Data

Restaurants are integrating new technologies to record and utilize data to improve their efficiency and the dining experience. For many, that starts with how a customer orders and pays for their meal. Restaurants are using a greater assortment of digital tools, such as kiosks, mobile apps, and table-side tablets. Besides offering a more convenient ordering and payment process, these devices can offer greater customization and personalization by mining data from customer order history. Through qualitative analytics, restaurants can create datasets of customer purchasing profiles.

“Once you know that people who buy ‘A’ also like item ‘B,’ you’re getting a lot of insight from the consumer on not only a promotional standpoint but also on a bundling standpoint and that information can help you adjust your menu,” says Mike Lukianoff, Chief Analytics Officer at Fishbowl Marketing Analytics.

Data-gathering sensors placed strategically throughout a restaurant can track how guests and employees use the space, creating an opportunity to improve a restaurant’s overall efficiency concerning wait times and traffic flow. Cava, a chain of Mediterranean-style restaurants currently in nine states and the District of Columbia, mined customer-flow data from sensors placed along its queues to improve the ordering process and the guest experience.

The Internet of Things means more appliances and kitchen tools are also connected, data-gathering tools. This smart kitchen tech can monitor inventory and food preparation for improved efficiency and order accuracy.

With these multiple sources of data, it’s becoming more crucial for restaurants to integrate their systems for effective data warehousing. Some ways to go about this include implementing agile and adaptable data models that work for data analysts, standardizing data preparation so the data is ready for analysis, and facilitating seamless data acquisition from those various gathering points. Then, restaurants should enrich that source data by applying predictive models and relevant metrics, such as historical sales trends, the number of new versus returning guests and the frequency a menu item is ordered, to achieve enhanced business intelligence for competitive advantages.

Data and Demographics

While the efficient mining of Big Data may provide a competitive edge, the industry’s embrace of data and customer personalization is mainly driven by customer expectations, especially Millennials.

A 2017 U.S. Department of Agriculture report showed that compared to other generational age groups, Millennials eat the highest share of their meals out at fast-food or fast-casual establishments, get prepared food to go or use a delivery service. When it comes to the food they’re eating, Millennials prefer fresh, natural, organic and even locally sourced offerings on the menu. Restaurants have rushed to appeal to this demographic by overhauling menus, re-designing dining spaces to be social media friendly and adding the convenience of app-based reservation and delivery systems.

Applebee’s, a stalwart of the casual dining segment, chased these trends only to miss the mark. After a retooled menu of trendy items failed to attract Millennials, Applebee’s stock prices decreased by 50% and forced the closure of 99 restaurants in 2017, with Applebee’s president John Cywinski declaring that the pursuit of a “more youthful and affluent demographic” had caused Applebee’s to “intentionally drift from…its Middle America roots. While we certainly hope to extend our reach, we can’t alienate Boomers and Gen-Xers in the process.”

At a February 2018 Investor Day presentation by Dine Brands Global, Inc., the parent company of Applebee’s, Cywinski reiterated the brand is “getting back to our roots” with “familiar, indulgent favorites,” while Dine Brands CEO Stephen Joyce highlighted investment in “new technology to enable future growth” through greater guest access, new platforms and “greater emphasis on data and advanced analytics” to make the brand “guest-led and insight-driven.”

Data is the first “D” in what Adrian Butler, Dine Brands SVP & Chief Information Officer, outlined as the company’s “4D technology strategy” of “Data, Discovery, Dining, Delivery.” The focus is on “leveraging data and analytics of our guests and operations to craft personalized experiences. We’re aggregating data about our guests that can be used to provide better offers and services,” with the end goal being a personalized one-to-one marketing and dining experience.

“Personal tastes when it comes to food is very unique. There’s nothing generic about what you order off a menu and how you want to order it,” says Dine Brands CFO Thomas H. Song, who echoed the Applebee’s commitment to data-based menu, marketing and ordering decisions in his presentation at CL King & Associates Best Ideas Conference 2018: “We’ve had a significant shift in mindshare towards technology over the course of the last 18 months. On the IT side, we’ve invested significantly in our data warehouse capabilities to provide a lot of that information to the consumer insights folks.”

Over 5.7 million Applebee’s customers provided feedback via tabletop device surveys, showing a 7% improvement in overall guest satisfaction by the end of 2017. The relaunch of Applebee’s To-Go doubled from 9% to 18% of revenue in 2017 and was optimized with the improved Applebee’s app spearheading the brand’s mobile-first strategy.

By leveraging data-driven insights, Applebee’s has been able to cut through the (mis)perceptions and stereotypes to aggregate customer demographic data, revealing that generationally, Applebee’s diners are pretty evenly split: 26.4% Baby Boomers, 28.3% Generation X, and 29.9% Millennial. When Generation Z guests are considered, 45% of Applebee’s guests are 34 or younger, according to their  Investor Day presentation.

While Applebee’s may have mis-stepped on the attempted Millennial-driven menu, the brand is betting on the analytics and the technology-driven experiences and conveniences these young digital natives expect for continued growth.

Providing Food for Thought

Gathering Big Data is an important step, but effectively interpreting and putting that data into action is the key to success in understanding and meeting diners’ expectations. The business analytics professionals who capture, structure, interpret and apply this data can provide restaurants with effective solutions and game-changing strategies, whether that’s a global chain restaurant or the local diner.