Applebee's, Mooyah, The Great Greek analyzing CX data to increase comp sales

Few restaurant executives would argue the value of wielding data to engage customers, but even fewer understand its potential or how mastering it can lead to traffic growth and cost savings.

"There is nothing more important today than consistently delivering a personalized experience to each customer across the many sales channels in today's hyper-competitive restaurant environment," said Robert Andersen , president of The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill and panelist at the annual Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit, March 24-26 , in Kansas City,

In a session, "Transforming Data into Your Superpower ," he will share how his team analyzes data to anticipate customer needs and increase return visits. "There is an abundance of data available for any restaurant, but it demands time and money to collect and analyze," he told Fast Casual . "The cost to provide useful and powerful insights can range from free to thousands of dollars. As data silos remain one of the biggest challenges for restaurant leaders to navigate, allocating financial and people resources to obtain consumer insights is most often the best investment a brand can make."

Abhinav Kapur , CEO of Bikky . and moderator of the session, agreed, saying that data analysis is only expensive if restaurants aren't getting ROI from it.

"If you have the right partner, platform and tools to access and use that data, you should be making investments that add to the top-and bottom-line or similarly wind down efforts that aren't working," he told Fast Casual. "As an example, we've seen brands that have cut high-selling, but low-retention menu items because they realized that after the first visit, they were actually losing money by offering it on the menu. "That's a simple, powerful way to drive positive ROI on your data relative to the underlying expense needed to get that insight."

Other panelists include:

• Yaron Goldman , CEO, Finally Restaurant Group .
• Jill Marchick , VP, Consumer Insights & Business Analytics, Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar .
• Doug Willmarth , president, MOOYAH Burgers Fries and Shakes

"Right now, and for much of the history of the restaurant industry, operators have flown blind on how their customer experience, and the decisions they make to improve that experience, have actually impacted their guests," Kapur said. "Learning how to use and interpret data and picking the right partner to help you achieve those goals remains one of the best ways for operators today to improve comp sales."

Data should answer a variety of questions, such as

• Did that new menu item bring in more customers?
• Did they come back after? Did the marketing campaign or promo have a positive ROI?
• Did it change the frequency of your customers at all?
• How did that price increase impact customer retention and frequency?

"All of these are critical questions that operators ask themselves every day, but they remain unanswerable without the right data and tools," Kapur said.

Register here for the annual Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit, March 24-26, in Kansas City.