Restaurants Business Model Must Focus on Eating-Out While Eating-In

Foodservice Solutions® recent Grocerant ScoreCards have found that 83.2% of family meals consumed at home have at least one grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food item according to Tacoma, WA based Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

Recently, an Ohio State study founded that 80 percent of new restaurants failing within the first five years. That same study suggested about 60 percent don’t make it to year 2.  

According to Johnson the new norm for a success restaurant business model must include ‘takeout, to-go, meals and meal components as consumers want to be ‘Eating-Out’ while Eating-In”.  Selling more food does not mean filling more seats according to Johnson.

TSYS, a global payment provider that generated revenue of $4.9 billion in 2017 while processing more than 27.8 billion transactions, conducted a payments study of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers to take the pulse of this sector.

Here are some key takeaways from the study:

Customers are still dining out. As competition from to-go, more restaurants, delivery, and C-stores squeeze the restaurant sector from all sides, there’s no evidence to prove America’s affection for dining out is waning to any considerable degree. TSYS’s study showed that 75 percent of respondents say they eat out at least once a week, with nearly half (42 percent) eating out at least three times a week.

But let’s get to the payment part.

For those diners who eat out two-plus times a week or more, this was their preferred payment at the restaurant. It’s important to note this is paying at the table. So you can scratch the pay-ahead through an app or site factor.

·         46 percent prefer to swipe their debt/credit card

·         41 percent prefer to insert their debit/credit chip card

·         10 percent prefer to pay with cash

·         3 percent prefer to pay with their phone

The simple fact is the day of the mom & pop restaurant using a cigar box as a cash drawer are all but a distance memory.  If success leaves clues and it does.  Restaurants are food manufacturing plants.  If a restaurant wants to become successful, they must sell food in more than one channel and that food must be branded. 

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

Will Bitcoin’s Bet on Restaurants be the Bite or Buzz Needed to Drive Customer Counts

By now most regular readers of this blog know that chain restaurants perennial innovation leader Starbucks may soon allow / enable consumers to pay for their latte with bitcoin. Starbucks has become a food and beverage innovation powerhouse and technology focused company that drives customer engagement with relevance blending interactive technology with participatory food and beverage offerings according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Starbucks is extending the coffee customization and personalization experience too technology and the payment process by integrating bitcoin into the list of payment options.  Recently Starbucks announced that it will work in partnership with bitcoin exchange operator Intercontinental Exchange Inc. as it forms a new company to “create an integrated platform that enables consumers and institutions to buy, sell, store and spend digital assets on a seamless global network.”

The new company entity will be, called Bakkt, it will employ Microsoft cloud-based solutions to fashion a “global ecosystem” for digital currency, according to the Starbucks press release. “As the flagship retailer, Starbucks will play a pivotal role in developing practical, trusted and regulated applications for consumers to convert their digital assets into U.S. dollars for use at Starbucks,” said Maria Smith, vice president of partnerships and payments for Starbucks,

Smith continued “As a leader in Mobile Pay to our more than 15 million Starbucks Rewards members, Starbucks is committed to innovation for expanding payment options for our customers.” Further operational details about Bakkt will be announced in coming weeks, according to Starbucks, with a planned launch of the company slated for November. So will it drive customer counts? Not today according to Johnson but it will added incremental buzz to the Starbucks brand and down the road it just might.  Starbucks is looking a customer ahead, are you?

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

KFC Focus on Security and Mobile Payments

Food security and safety is first for all restaurants but information security is second in top of mind awareness for consumers today according to  Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  KFC is looking for a new electricity to drive incremental top line sales and bottom line profits with a new strategic partnership.

KFC has found that new electricity in a partnership with Ingenico Group to Simplify EMV Migration that strengthens it hand held marketing and payment platform with a new level of security and that security is KFC new electricity, according to Johnson; partnerships specifically strategic partnerships are driving retail success today. 

Johnson stated that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods grocerant consultants, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Retailers the ilk of KFC to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different in some form and KFC has been and continues to lead at that. KFC keeps upping its game and other brands must embrace new fresh food and technology partnerships more now than ever

So in short KFC has migrated its payments system in the U.S. to Ingenico Group’s Telium Semi-Integrated solution to simplify its path to EMV card acceptance and to reduce PCI compliance scope while providing their customers with more payment options and enhanced payment security. As part of the solution, customers will be able to pay using all forms of electronic payment, including EMV chip & PIN, EMV chip & sign, magstripe and NFC/contactless. That according to Johnson is very important.

KFC now uses a mix of Ingenico Group’s iSC250 and iPP350 smart terminals at the counter and iPP350 smart terminals for its drive-thru’s, providing customers a fast and secure payment solution no matter where they pay. Using a semi-integrated approach, where sensitive cardholder data is routed around the point of sale (POS), allows KFC to better protect its customers’ payment information.

Chris Caldwell, KFC U.S. chief information officer  stated “Upgrading our payment terminals wasn’t just about migrating to EMV—it was about helping to protect our customers’ payment information and giving them the ability to pay the way they want, whether it’s by using their mobile device or their credit card,” .... “Ingenico Group has helped KFC U.S. transition to EMV and implement a seamless payment experience for our customers with best-in-class terminals that accept a variety of payment options.”

Scott Tubbs, chief revenue officer for Ingenico Group  stated “KFC has always been dedicated to creating innovative customer experiences, and upgrading its payments system is the latest improvement it’s made,”  “Ingenico Group’s semi-integrated payment solution provides KFC’s customers with a multitude of payment options without compromising the security of their information.” Do you have a security pillow?

Is your branded evolving with consumers demand for mobile payment?  What is your new electricity? Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

At Casey’s General Stores Partnerships Drive Success

What is the key driver for foodservice moving forward?  In the minds-eye Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® there is one dominate element that will power success within retail foodservice over the coming years.  Johnson calls it the new electricity that is partnerships specifically strategic partnerships.   The new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh food, sustainable oils, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing

Food companies the ilk of Supermarkets, Conveniences Stores, Dollar Stores, and Department Stores selling food that want to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

The food retail partnerships are evolving fast rather than being with legacy CPG brands they will be with technology companies that have cutting edge customer facing strategy that is fast and complexity free for the consumer and with fresh food start-ups offering alternatives to pantry stocking options of yesterday according to our Grocerant Guru®.

Casey's General Stores had progressively embraced partnering developing fresh pizza with delivery and with global financial technology company Blackhawk Network Holdings to offer Amazon Cash to its customers who don't have a bank account or prefer not to use debit or credit cards.

Bill Walljasper, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Casey's stated "We are thrilled to offer our customers the added convenience of Amazon Cash at Casey's General Stores, which we anticipate will drive additional foot traffic in our retail locations around the country," ... "By partnering with Blackhawk, we are able to bring Amazon Cash to our stores and continue to be a one-stop shop for our diverse group of customers, including cash-based shoppers."

Amazon Cash allows consumers to load between money from $15 to $500 in cash to their Amazon balance without fees. To do so, they simply present a personalized Amazon barcode to a cashier at a participating retailer along with the amount of money they wish to load. The amount is then applied to the customer's existing Amazon account and immediately available to use for online shopping of eligible products and digital content on Amazon.com.

Success does leave clues and regular readers of this blog know that Casey’s success in larger part has to come from driving customer migration too Casey’s with increased grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared foodservice offerings and Pizza.  Walljasper understands that when you combine increased grocerant niche fresh food offerings with time technology consumers relevance grows exponentially.  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCards as regular readers know have pointed that out time and time again. Have you tapped into the New Electricity?  

Tap into the Foodservice Solutions® team for greater understanding of New Electricity or for a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Business Travelers, Families, and you can Grab a Ready-2-Meal at the Airport on the Run

Did you get stuck traffic, stuck in the security line, or delayed due to weather recently like I have been when at the airport?  Not to worry as if like me you have a smartphone you can order a meal, a sandwich, even desert or a treat right from your smart phone while at the airport. 

Delaware North recently announced the arrival of self-ordering kiosks at several of its airport-dining locations. The kiosks were developed in partnership with Grab, the airport e-commerce platform, offering travelers dual self-service ordering capabilities (mobile via smartphone and in-person at a kiosk) for the first time in the United States and our Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson likes the servicet.

Think cashier free as the next step. The kiosk technology features an interface designed for quick ordering with intelligent upselling and customization components and includes point-to-point encrypted (P2PE) credit card payments, including Apple Pay, Android Pay, and other “tap-to-pay” options. Kiosks can process orders from a location’s full menu as well as grab-and-go items. Future iterations of the kiosk will have barcode scanners for an even quicker checkout experience when purchasing grab-and-go items.

Currently 18 kiosks already deployed at six airports, including: Atlanta (Grindhouse Killer Burgers, Mustard Seed, and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf); Austin (Schlotzsky’s); Buffalo (Which Wich); Denver (Schlotzsky’s); Detroit (Popeye’s) and Oklahoma City (Schlotzsky’s and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf).

Kevin Kelly, president of Delaware North’s travel division stated “This latest innovation with our partners at Grab is a step toward the future of travel and how people will be dining and shopping at the airport in the coming years.” You don’t have to have a location at an airport to understand the importance of selling fresh food fast, the power of hand held marketing, or a having one less cashier on duty. 

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Starbucks is Growing after 46 Years Are You

If success leaves clues and it does one clue that no one in the foodservice sector should overlook is ‘watch what Starbucks does’ according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based global foodservice consultancy www.FoodserviceSolutions.us . 

Most regular readers of this blog know that Starbucks was founded in 1971 and is now over 46+ years old and not only a category leader it is an industry leader in Coffee, Retail CPG, Foodservice Technology, Customer Service, Grocerant niche Fresh Food, personal use coffee pots, cups OK you know I could go on and on.  In fact the team at Foodservice Solutions® has named Howard Schultz Food Merchant of the year more than on three occasions. Is your brand evolving selling more food more products that last year?

Now Foursquare released its Quick-Service Restaurant Loyalty Index. The company ranked the top 50 chains in the U.S., according to customer loyalty. Foursquare analyzed the foot traffic trails of more than 2.5 million Americans for the study no small feat.  Here are the top 10 chains, ranked.

 Starbucks,  McDonald’s,   Dunkin’ Donuts  Tim Hortons  Chick-fil-A,    Whataburger,  Sonic Drive-In,   The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf,   Taco Bell, and  Panera Bread. 

Consumers are dynamic not static the only way Starbucks can lead in customer loyalty after 46 years is they continue to evolve.  Recently Starbucks closed it online retail store, do you know why?  Online Starbucks consumer touchpoints were rated some of the best in the industry.  So why did they close it?  What have you changed up lately?  Where is your growth coming from?  Is your brand FIRST in any category?

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Bingo Box Copycats Driving Cashier Free Adoption

Back in the day the U.S. was filled with cutting edge venture capitalists who would drive innovation in retail foodservice and the world watch, copied and U.S. branded innovative foodservice grew.  Today foodservice innovation and venture capital is center stage in China and Asia according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson. 

Consumers in China are just as time starved as anywhere else in the world and retailers looking to reduce consumer time in the stores think going ‘cashier-free is the way to go.  The question is this the next big thing or are retailers and venture capitalist throwing money at China’s cashier-free convenience stores?

First does the technology in a cashier free store work?  Will the retailer actually make money, or learn once again that retail, even tech-driven retail, is a brutal business of low margins, low barriers to entry and high fixed costs? Our Grocerant Guru® asks how much would your margins improve without cashiers? 

This year alone in China there are eight start-ups in the space have raised a total US$385 million. The investment premise seems simple: tap into an ongoing retail revolution in a nation with 1.3 billion potential shoppers with a track record of embracing new retail experiences.

The fact is China’s cashier-free stores are very different from Amazon Go, the fully automated checkout-free stores launched by Amazon, something all of the Chinese start-ups tried to copy but found it too difficult. Amazon Go has delayed it’s rollout due to ongoing technology and operational glitches according to Amazon.  

Most of China’s cashier-free stores fall into two types. The first looks like traditional convenience stores with row of products displayed like in a 7-Eleven, or with product images displayed on a computer screen. Shoppers scan a QR code or their faces to enter the store. They then scan the products they want and check out via mobile payment. In other cases, they are clicking pictures of products and pay via mobile payment.

The products are then dispensed like from a vending machine. Bingobox, Bianlifeng and Xiaomai belong to this category, with most placing box-like stores “in the wild”, such as in parks or on the sidewalk.

The other type are essentially a vending machine, or shelves, placed in office buildings and powered by mobile payment and QR codes. The only difference between this type and a traditional vending machine is the addition of mobile payment enabled by easy scan of QR codes. Guoxiaomei and Citybox are examples of this type.

Here is the point international retailers are expanding into new points of fresh food distribution, that may very well save them lots of money while driving top line sales and bottom line profits?  So we ask does your company look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Will you brand be replaced by a new start-up from Europe, Asia, or the U.S.? 

Success does leave clues www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed a Grocerant Program Assessment, or new Grocerant niche product Ideation?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Shake Shack Simply Customer Relevant

How can it be that some companies seem to thrive, while other companies languish in what they term ‘the complexity of turbulent times’ was the question asked of Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based global foodservice consultancy Foodservice Solution®.  His answer “they understand the customer better. 

That is the case with ‘better burger’ company Shake Shack as the debut a new Kiosk-Only, Cashless outlet which is but one of its recent efforts to dominate the better-burger segment with the help of technology.  Shake Shack announced Monday that its newest New York City restaurant will be a “playground” featuring kiosk-only ordering. The new Shake Shack at 51 Astor Place will be entirely cashless in Manhattan and we ask why not?

In addition Shake Shack follows this year’s rollout of a mobile ordering app, the Shack App, plus a feedback and FAQ bot on Twitter and Facebook called ShackBot. These tech additions and the development of a delivery deal with Amazon signal a clear digital direction.

Success does leave clues and understanding consumer adoption of technology requires that you adopt with it as well.  Remember Shake Shack has only 17 units albeit they are high volume there are only 17. Is your company evolving fest enough?  Does your company look more like yesterday’s food brand than tomorrows?

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Starbucks Tantalize Tales of Technology Success

I don’t believe that anyone who reads this blog on a regular basics thinks running a chain of restaurants today is easy.  Simply executing operational excellence by serving hot food hot and cold food cold at times is more work than many of us ever signed up for.

Restaurants and all retailers today must not only do the operational basics well they have to figure out how to integrate technology into an existing system so as to edify the system and elevate the customer experience simultaneously.

With incremental success comes the unintended consequence of that success.  In the case of Starbucks the fact is technology mobile ordering has created incremental congestion in the stores. (OK, so you wish you had that problem) Now Starbucks is developing new strategies to help combat congestion at stores caused by its mobile order-ahead service.

The company, which met expectations for its quarterly earnings report this week, provided an update about the issues around Mobile Order & Pay (MOP), a program that lets customers order with their smartphone via Starbucks’ app and skip the line.

The problem, as Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz detailed on the company’s earnings call in January, is that the increasing number of MOP orders creates congestion inside stores for mobile order-ahead customers trying to pick up their coffee and food at hand-off stations. This not only affects customers who are picking up items, but also potential customers who may notice the in-store traffic and end up not purchasing anything.

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, stated “Starbucks is implementing “three waves” of improvements to reduce in-store congestion caused by MOP. The first, which he said is largely completed, includes additional training and reallocation of employee roles, as well additional labor at peak hours in select stores. Johnson said this has resulted in higher customer service feedback and increased peak transactions.

The second wave, Johnson said, is related to a new “Digital Order Manager,” or DOM, a tablet-based device that gives baristas at the company’s busiest stores visibility on all incoming MOP orders, as well as those coming from drive-thru and the cafe. “It enables better tracking and real-time order production management,” Johnson noted.

Finally, the third wave is about how Starbucks is designing new stores and renovating existing ones with a focus on store layout that provides ways to increase throughput. Starbucks is driving customer relevance with technology.  Technology can drive customer adoption and incremental customer relevance.  Do you have to many customers?

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.