Every year the competition is on: which house is going to give out the best stuff at Halloween? Not everyone can be the legendary one that gives out full-sized candy bars. And then there are the folks that go all out with decorations, creating a haunted experience that rivals Disney. And let’s face it, you’re not going to be the Red Sox catcher who gave out autographs when facing an empty candy bowl. […]
Remaining competitive in the digital space means leveraging data to boost your business at every opportunity. You might be surprised to learn just how much actionable information is at your fingertips if you know how to mine the data available to you.
For the convenience store operator looking to stand out from the competition, data can answer some key questions: Who is your competition, and how can you overcome their strategies to own the customer?
I recently had the chance to address a wonderful crowd at the Outlook Leadership Conference about this very issue.
Who is your competition?
Calculating how to best compete begins with knowing who you are competing against. You can start by putting yourself in the place of the customer along the customer journey. A customer has a need and undertakes a search to fill it. The search can be a neighborhood walk, a driving search or, increasingly, an online search.
Not long ago I tried this myself. I looked on Yelp for fuel near me and found 10 locations – but a closer look revealed only four competitors since many carry the same flag. Similarly, a search for coffee brought up 86 locations. And a broader search for food gave me a whopping 130 locations within two miles – and when I switched over to Doordash and Grubhub another 36 locations showed up that weren’t on Yelp.
But wait. Why do DoorDash and Grubhub have listings that aren’t on Yelp? Well, some of those are “ghost kitchens.” This is a term that’s cropped up a lot lately and one that is having a major impact on any company dealing with delivery. I discovered two brands I had never seen before Guy Fieri’s flavortown kitchen and Mr. Beast Burger. It turns out they are virtual brands where you can only buy their food through delivery services (no dine-in) and the food is prepared in the kitchen of a well-known Italian chain Bertucci’s.
Three types of Ghost Kitchens are currently flourishing: Virtual brands like Guy Fieri’s; restaurants that are growing into new regional markets and trying out new brands; and third-party aggregators themselves, like DoorDash and Uber Eats. This means you have actually been battling for customers against competitors you couldn’t even see unless you went looking in your phone. That kind of competition calls for a significant digital strategy on your part.
How can you compete?
How can any brand compete on the delivery marketplaces when there are 166 listings within a 2 mile radius? What will it take to get to the top of search listings? It seems some brands are stacking the deck with ghost kitchens so they show up if you search for “Italian,” or “chicken” or “burgers.” This seems like a daunting task for any brand. What makes more sense is to change the rules to a game that is easier to understand, control and measure; you should own the customer.
How can you own the customer?
Now you know who you are competing with – and everyone is in a fight to own the customer. Fortunately, the data behind the most successful brands tells us their secrets.
Today’s marketplace is a double-edged sword – the pressure on businesses to compete with data and tech is higher than ever, but emerging tools are giving you the means to do so.
Do you have questions about how you can better leverage data to benefit your business? Paytronix would love to hear from you. Get in touch today.
Have you been puzzling over how to leverage third-party order aggregators to best serve your business? You’re not alone! Fortunately, a data-informed examination of how businesses benefit from these platforms points to some key strategies that help clear the way forward, toward a more profitable approach.
A recent Paytonix webinar, How to Get More First-Party Orders, examines the trends and tools you need to know about.
Choose the right tools to help you manage third-party orders.
Huge numbers of customers are turning to third-party aggregators as their first source of information in deciding what they are going to eat. With an estimated 37 percent of the restaurant customer base reporting that they order food for takeout or delivery at least twice per week, getting the tools right is a critical first step. […]
With digital ordering dominating the industry, perfecting the online menu is more important than ever. Fortunately, there are some basic strategies you can adopt to have a real impact on sales.
Here are some key highlights from a recent Paytronix webinar, Customizing Your Online Menu.
