Posted by Walker Thompson on Fri, Sep 03, 2010 @ 04:24 PM
Sometimes funny, but mostly about what makes the retail and restaurant industry tick, each Friday the WhenToManage team plays on our company name with a WhenTo(DO). This week's WhenTo(DO) is on the mobile front, or when should your restaurant go mobile? According to the technology website cnet.com, in the first quarter of 2010 over 314.7 million mobile phones were sold, a 17 percent increase year over year. Clearly, mobile is on the rise and now you're thinking: what does it mean to my business and how do I "use" it??? Good question, but one that doesn't have an end-all-be-all answer. The smartphone and mobile space is clearly evolving. Not to mention, all the "pads" that will soon launch. So the answer is stay on top of the trends! As committed and former restaurant executives, managers, cooks and servers, we also have some ideas on how mobile can help, and our software does just that, help...
- Communication
- Using our report creator, you can "subscribe" to any report you create. Once the report is created using our web-based excel-esque interface, sending to your managers or peers is easy. The data goes right to their iPhone or Droid and the data is now at their finger tips.
- Workflow
- Hundreds of restaurants use our report creator, and mention often how much they appreciate the SMS (text-messaging) functionality. Once a schedule is published, the employee is notified of the job and schedule of that job.
- Engagement
- Keeping every constituent engaged in operations is easy using our "alerts" functionality. If you're especially concerned about tip adjustments or cash over/short then why not have a mobility offering to KNOW NOW!
We care about how restaurant employees, managers and executives spend their day and mobile is part of it. But again, stay on top of all the trends by following these authors:
Posted by Walker Thompson on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 @ 09:56 AM
Is there something to reading the latest news on a Monday morning? Sitting back with a cup of coffee and your trusty Google Reader seems to set us in the mood for the work week. Great data comes not from just our application, but from others as well... Here are a few that piqued our interest...
What does it take to be a successful enterprise? Well, after reading about Panera Bread's top-100 fastest-growing enterprises perhaps you should ask them. Panera is one of only two restaurant concepts to make the 2010 list. Read more here...
The fast casual restaurant category accounted for estimated sales of $23 billion in 2010, up nearly 30 percent since 2006. According to the article, "restaurants in this market claim to combine the quality of family casual with the convenience of fast food. At $6–$12 per ticket, pricing falls between fast food and casual dining. Fast casual restaurants distinguish themselves from fast food through their modified table service, higher food quality, greater attention to healthful foods, and, in some cases, availability of beer and wine." Read more here...
Ever heard of a pop-up restaurant? You sit and served only what the chef prepares, but is this another trend or fad? Read more here...
We'll keep the list going... But if you find something of note or interesting to share, post a comment.
Posted by Jeff Schacher on Tue, Aug 04, 2009 @ 10:32 AM
The Pizza Hut iPhone app
has been downloaded over 100,000 times. What does this mean for them?
How will it affect their sales? How do I get an app for my restaurant?
These are the questions that come to mind.
Well first things
first. It's a great looking app. The design team that put it together
did an excellent job. It's sexy, fun, and functional.
So what
does a great looking app get you? Well, it gets you 100,000 downloads.
The ease of adding an app to your iPhone means there is no time or
effort barrier. So once the social media crowd starts chirping about
this cool new app, everyone wants to check it out. Then they show their
friends, and then their friends have to get it, and so on until the
idea is "so two weeks ago", then they move on to the next new thing.
However,
the effects from taking a quick ride on the social media popularity
train can be lasting. First of all you have brand exposure. People that
haven't thought about Pizza Hut in years are suddenly showing their
friends this fun new app they found. Secondly, the quality of the look
and feel says something about the brand message. Perhaps getting
someone to "try them again." But they will have to execute well to keep
them.
So will any iPhone app work? I don't think so. I'm
skeptical about the success of the Burger King app that was released a
few months ago. The biggest issue I see there is that I can't see
someone ordering fast food from their phone when it's probably faster
to go through the drive up window, but I do think that they could see
success with something else that isn't about ordering food.
I
look forward to seeing the sales numbers for July and August. It will
be interesting to compare iPhone orders to overall sales. While I think
there will be some bump in the iPhone channel directly, I think the
"brand buzz" will elevate all sales.