Business Intelligence Applications and Benefits That Can Help Your QSR Grow

What is Business Intelligence?

Business intelligence (BI) is a technology-driven process for analyzing data and producing actionable insights and reports on it. This helps business managers and executives make better, data driven decisions for their business. The goal of BI systems is to support better decision making by providing timely, accurate and relevant information in an easily understandable format using data visualization. BI tools can help businesses such as restaurants identify opportunities, track and monitor performance, optimize marketing campaigns, identify market trends and make well-informed, strategic decisions.

Popular BI tools are data warehousing, data mining, reporting tools, interactive dashboards, and OLAP (online analytical processing) systems. Business intelligence tools typically provide access to data stored in corporate databases or data warehouses. They may also draw from external sources such as market research firms, government agencies or social media sites. The key is to provide users with the information they need, when they need it, in a format that is easy to understand and use.

BI Applications for QSRs No. 1 - Reports and Insights

Quick service restaurants need to understand their business processes -- such as sales, customer service, and employee scheduling -- in real time. Business Intelligence applications use all the data sets generated by different data sources of a business to generate reports on sales trends, market scenarios, competitors, inventory utilization, and even employee performance. Self service BI applications also use natural language and visual elements to help anyone in the business quickly understand the operation and take necessary action. Whether you need to optimize menu offerings or address customer demands, business analytics tools will help you make the right decisions.

BI Application No. 2 - Sales Assistance

One of the most important tasks for any QSR is to track sales data for their Business Development and growth goals. This includes data like total sales per day/week/month, sales by location/time of day/day of week and other parameters. Having accurate and up-to-date sales reports is essential to understand which items are selling well and where there may be opportunities for improvement. Using business analytics and data management tools, the intelligence software analyzes the different sales metrics, customer consumption patterns, bestselling products, sales patterns, and market trends to help business users better understand sales. With an in-depth knowledge of what's selling and what's not, business owners and managers can make changes and optimize their operations to boost revenue.

BI Application No. 3 - Data Visualization

One of the primary functions of a Business Intelligence software for quick service restaurants is data visualization. While these businesses generate large volumes of data every day, it is crucial to derive information from these numbers. An intelligence software does just that. It gathers information from the different data sources of the restaurant and converts it into graphics, reports and insights using data visualization tools. This helps business users who employ self service BI to better understand their operations without the need of expert help for data analysis. Managers can quickly analyze the patterns and trends in customer behavior, sales data and operational data using the reports generated by BI software. This helps them make better decisions about marketing, menu offerings and store operations. Data visualization also makes it easy for QSRs to share information with their customers and employees.

BI Application No. 4 - Performance Optimization

Performance optimization is a key BI application for all organizations, but it is especially important for QSRs. The quick pace and high volume of transactions at a QSR can create bottlenecks and inefficiencies that can quickly impact the bottomline. By using performance optimization tools, QSRs can make better use of Big Data and identify and resolve performance issues before they become costly problems. In addition, performance optimization can help QSRs improve their overall operations by identifying best practices, outline areas for improvement, and reduce wastage of resources.

BI Application No. 5 - Real Time Management

The quick service restaurant industry is extremely competitive and works at an extremely fast pace. In order to stay ahead of the competition, QSRs need to adopt cutting-edge technologies that will help them better manage their businesses in real time. And business intelligence applications are the best way to achieve this, boost operations and maximize revenue.

A BI application can provide QSRs with the ability to track and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) in real time and make changes immediately. This information can also be used to make informed decisions about how to improve operations and boost profits. Additionally, a BI application can help QSRs identify market trends and patterns in customer behavior, which can be used to tailor marketing campaigns and improve customer experience. Investing in a BI application is a wise decision for any QSR that wants to stay ahead of the competition and build a loyal customer base. We've listed below some of the best BI software solutions available in the market right now.

Top 3 BI Software for QSRs

Zip Reporting

The Zip Reporting BI software offered by Hubworks, the restaurant management solutions provider, takes all the datasets of a business and brings them together under one centralized location, for better tracking and data management. With Zip Reporting, you can easily access all your data from anywhere and in real time, generate comprehensive reports that help in optimizing business operations and decision making, and plan business growth with ease.

The Zip BI application uses natural language and data visualization tools to make sense of the volumes of data generated by the different business processes every day. With Zip Reporting, you will be able to generate real time reports and insights and take quick action. The Zip Reporting dashboard can also be customized to best suit your needs and manage daily operations without glitches. From performance management to supply chain management, inventory management and more, the Zip BI software will help you improve every business process.

Tableau

Tableau is a powerful business intelligence and data visualization tool that helps QSR business users and managers gain insights into their sales data, customer data, supply chain data, and more. The Tableau BI application allows users to create interactive charts and graphs with data visualization tools that can be used to spot trends and identify areas for improvement. Tableau has a free BI application that is suitable for small businesses that need business analytics and intelligence software to understand and analyze market trends, increase performance and optimize their business decisions.

Microsoft Power BI

Another popular BI software is Microsoft Power BI. This is a comprehensive business intelligence platform from Microsoft that includes tools for data analysis, reporting, and predictive analytics. Microsoft Power BI will give your business clarity and empower your decision making with data driven, actionable insights. Power BI's order analysis feature allows QSR managers to track and analyze customer ordering patterns in real time, which can help them make informed decisions about menu management, performance management and marketing initiatives. However, Power BI is slightly more expensive than most BI applications available in the market.