Big Data Analytics for Restaurants

Big Data is characterized by the following 3 “Vs”:

• • Volume – You need a large amount of data to trust the insights you get from it. The larger the sample size, the more credible the results

• • Velocity – You need to know that the information you’re working with is current and quickly actionable. It’s how quickly they can analyze data – as they are about volume.

• • Variety – You need restaurant analytics from a lot of sources and in a variety of formats to get a clear sense of outcomes.

How do I gather my restaurant analytics?

1. Point of Sale (POS) System
   • Total Sales
   • Top Sales Categories
   • Sales by Menu Item
   • Sales by Restaurant Section (patio vs. dining room)
   • Top Upsells
   • Labor costs
   • Sales by server
   • Menu Item Sales by Category and Promotion
   • Average Spend Per Customer
   • Average Number of Customers
   • Payments and Payment Types
   • Discounts, Voids, and Deletions
   • Taxes and General Accounting
   • End-of-day Summary Reports
2. Accounting and Finance
   • Costs
   • Revenue
   • Profit Margins
3. Inventory
   • Time Period
   • Food Category
   • Item name, to live within their respective food category
   • Unit of measure (ex. lb., oz.)
   • Unit cost: the cost for one unit of measure of the ingredient
   • Quantity in stock: the current number of units for each ingredient in your restaurant
   • Inventory value: the number you get when you multiply your unit cost by your quantity in stock
   • Reorder level: the number of units that indicate a need to reorder the item
   • Total inventory value
4. Suppliers
   • Product Availability
   • Prices
   • Order Status
   • Order Recurrence
   • Average Order Price
5. Labor
   • Wages/Salary
   • Shifts
   • Staff Tips
   • Sales, Voids, and Discounts per Staff Member
6. Customer Loyalty
   • Customer behavior: number of visits, the amount spent, frequency of visits
   • Customer contact information
   • Customer birthdays and special occasions
   • Customer preferences

Increase Profits
There are two ways to use data to increase your sales:

• At-a-glance, on-shift reports from your POS
• Long-term historical reporting from your POS or sales tracking spreadsheets

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