Introduction
Ursino Steakhouse & Tavern has hired a team of marketing consultants to provide suggestions for improving its performance. The purpose of this report is an evaluation of the secondary data collected by the members of the group. The available information should be analyzed regarding its usefulness, possible additional sources of data should be determined, and indirectly related information on the topic should be located.
Internal Data
The types of internal information gathered by the team include the monthly sales data, the number of customers, and costs for labor and food. This data can be used to estimate the popularity and financial performance of the restaurant. Since the customer data is presented on a per-month basis, it is also possible to analyze it and attempt to determine whether any trends or internal changes influenced the restaurant’s attractiveness. To that end, it would be necessary to collect information about the measures taken to attract customers within the last two years. It would also be beneficial to obtain detailed information about the number of orders for specific dishes.
Comment Cards
The restaurant uses a comment card system that allows customers to submit feedback about their experience and suggestions for improvement as they leave. The comment cards for the last two years have been made available to the team. They can be a useful source of information, as customers who are dissatisfied with some part of the service or have constructive criticisms are usually the ones who fill out and submit comment cards. Nevertheless, the statements on the cards should be considered in terms of the frequency of their appearance, and complaints that rarely appear may be regarded as the results of accidents or unrealistic customer expectations.
Trend Information
It is necessary to analyze trends in the food industry to locate areas that should be improved. Miller and Washington provide a considerable number of recommendations by many analysts and media (47-69). Some of the suggestions, such as an expanded beer list or the introduction of freshly squeezed juices, could benefit the restaurant without incurring high costs. However, numerous other trends, including introducing Asian cuisine, allowing customer interaction with the kitchen, and implementing counter-based service, would be difficult to follow and lead to a massive change in the restaurant’s image, so following them is not advisable.
Census Data
Understanding the potential customers is vital to the success of a restaurant. As such, the team collected data from the United States Census Bureau website, determining that 53,053 people were living in the area in 2010. The majority of them were 21 years old or older, making them potential customers for the restaurant. However, restaurants usually rely on more than local customers to sustain their sales, as they attempt to spread information about their fine dining opportunities and have people visit while passing by or come to the restaurant for that specific purpose. As such, it would be prudent to collect data from the neighboring areas and their corresponding zip codes.
Articles Summary
Studying scholarly work on the subject of effective restaurant operation is highly beneficial, as the research contains concrete hypotheses and tests of their effectiveness. Agarwal et al. discuss promotion methods that reduce cognitive dissonance and increase customer satisfaction, noting that people prefer to visit places that are approved by their peers (42). Avazzadeh and Karami investigate customer relationships with a restaurant and their effect on repeated visits, suggesting that the staff goes through communication courses (104). Canny explores the factors that create an enjoyable dining experience, concluding that service quality was the primary factor in influencing satisfaction (28).
Lastly, Hanaysha studies the importance of social media advertising, determining that it has a significant effect on the brand image (49). More articles on relevant topics can be found using the “restaurant,” “customer satisfaction,” and “advertisement” keywords, and topics such as employee management and the influence of the ambient atmosphere on customer experience may be of interest.
Blogs and Other Information
Blogs that concern fine dining usually contains advice for restaurant owners or reviews by food critics, with posts related to the restaurant being of interest. They can serve as useful sources of secondary data, as they contain opinions from people that are often well informed in the area. However, any information obtained from blogs should be fact-checked, as they do not undergo peer reviewing and are prone to mistakes as well as misinformation.
Other sources of data that may be useful include an inspection of the competing restaurants and their distinctive features as well as well-known and successful restaurants elsewhere. Inspecting their characteristic methods as well as the approaches that they took to achieve success may lead to valuable insights that can be used to improve Ursino Steakhouse & Tavern. However, the restaurant should still have a unique selling point, and overly relying on copying innovations used by the competitors is not a viable strategy.
Conclusion
The team has gathered a significant amount of information about Ursino Steakhouse & Tavern as well as its circumstances. The data has various uses, but the search has not covered some areas, such as the popularity of the menu. After the collection of additional data and familiarization with effective approaches used by other restaurants and in scholarly literature, the information can be analyzed to determine the areas and methods of improvement.
Works Cited
Agarwal, Mohit, et al. “Cognitive Dissonance and Mitigation Strategies: The Restaurant Industry.” International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research, vol. 5, no. 6, 2018, pp. 38-44.
Avazzadeh, Elahe, and Abdolmajid Karami. “Data Analysis and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the Restaurant Industry.” Sindhological Studies, vol. 1, 2017, pp. 99-106.
Canny, Ivyanno U. “Measuring the Mediating Role of Dining Experience Attributes on Customer Satisfaction and Its Impact on Behavioral Intentions of Casual Dining Restaurant in Jakarta.” International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, vol. 5, no. 1, 2014, pp. 25-29.
Hanaysha, Jalal. “The Importance of Social Media Advertisements in Enhancing Brand Equity: A Study on Fast Food Restaurant Industry in Malaysia.” International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, vol. 7, no. 2, 2016, pp. 46-51.
Miller, Richard K., and Kelli Washington. Restaurant, Food & Beverage Market Research Handbook 2013. Richard K. Miller & Associates, 2013.
United States Census Bureau. United States Census Bureau, 2018. Web.