A robust and reliable analytics platform is central to the success of your business. Analytics will help you generate more customers, increase sales, gain insights into customer behavior and preferences, create detailed customer profiles, measure return on investment (ROI) and maximize those valuable marketing dollars.

Like it or not, restaurant ratings websites play a critical role in getting customers through your door. Great ratings can keep your seats full, while negative ratings can send potential customers elsewhere. If you're not actively taking steps to improve your online ratings, consider the following.

The wonderful thing about the internet is that it gives every customer an opportunity to review a business, it’s product and its services.

But, wait. That could be a bad thing about the internet, right?

The 2019 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago is quickly approaching. This is the place to learn all there is to know about what is happening in the restaurant industry. From technology, to equipment & supplies, to tips and trends, exhibitors are ready and excited to educate you on the absolute latest innovations in the industry.

With over 190 sessions and events directly related to the restaurant industry, along with hundreds of industry-leading speakers, there will certainly be no down time at the annual 3-day show. It's going to be difficult to decide which sessions to attend, so we've compiled a list of a few technology and data-related sessions we think might be quite interesting. 

WiFi marketing & analytics are making a huge impact on brick-and-mortar revenue, customer engagement and satisfaction. Using guest WiFi access points, businesses can collect customers names, contact information, and demographics while measuring their behavior data at the location. The data can be used to create targeted remarketing campaigns to influence customers, increasing their visit frequency and spend, and you can measure their satisfaction in real time.

The competition in today's restaurant and retail industries is overwhelming. Each of your competitors are desperately seeking ways to seize their share of consumer dollars. That's why it's so important to stand out from the crowd when it comes to your marketing and advertising campaigns. And it's why you need to save on operational costs wherever possible. 

Many restaurants and coffee shops focus mainly on increasing sales and the customers’ dining experience, giving less consideration to the importance of making sure that their customers remain their customers. Moreover, most owners and operators do not have an accurate way to measure their customer churn rate and keep it in check.

Customer churn, also known as customer attrition, isn’t an isolated event. It’s a process that can start at any time, from when a potential customer first discovers your place of business, to when they finally become a repeat customer. Your company’s strategy to combat customer loss must work similarly, providing an end-to-end solution — and it all starts with your data.

Marketing and business technology solutions continue to advance at a rapid pace. Today’s marketers are enjoying an excess of tools and solutions to utilize when creating, executing and measuring their multi-channel marketing campaigns.

The key to successful marketing for any business is knowing your customers on a deeper and more personal level. You may already have a pretty good idea of your most valuable customer personas, but do you truly understand who they are, how they feel about your business, and what demographics they represent? This will give you a great head start, but to remain competitive, you also need to understand their wants and needs. Once you do, you can gear your offerings to fill those voids.