Restaurants are addressing the culture of convenience to increase transactions, and thus sales, and appeal to a younger client base. For consumers & diners, convenience has become a major driver of food-based decision making. Why is convenience important? Some reasons: The beyond-9-to-5 schedule Millennial decision making Restaurants face competition from retailers Some focus areas: Food preparation Restaurant design and space allocation Ordering technology Takeout Catering

1. Rethinking convenience:
Restaurants use it to grow the top
line
By Rick Zambrano

2. Overview
This presentation is an outline of ideas to incorporate
convenience attributes in today's restaurants.
These are broad-based ideas meant to be part of a
more comprehensive plan and strategy that can be
developed for your own restaurant(s).

3. Driving convenience to enhance the
top line
Restaurants are addressing the culture of
convenience to increase transactions, and thus sales,
and appeal to a younger client base. For consumers
& diners, convenience has become a major driver of
food-based decision making.
Why is convenience important? Some reasons:
➲ The beyond-9-to-5 schedule
➲ Millennial decision making
➲ Restaurants face competition from retailers

4. Convenience focus areas
For both table-service and quick-service
eateries, convenience can be found in five
key focus areas:
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Food preparation: “fresh” made quickly
Design and space allocation: navigation is
visual
Ordering technology
Takeout
Catering

5. 'Fresh' food made quick
➲
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Cooking methods – turbo-style ovens,
convention ovens, fast-baking
Pre-portioning, fresh preparation, an
attention to labor-optimization
Quick-sourcing from local growers, farmers
and growing your own produce
Equipment manufacturers and distributors
partnering with restaurants for optimizing
speed of delivery of fresh food to customers

6. Design & space allocation for quickserves
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Partitioned seating and pick-up stations
Marketplace environments – C-store-like 7Eleven and fast casuals like Au Bon Pain
Designing with an emphasis on the visual
for the benefit of the data and weboverloaded Millennial
Branding cues along walls help guide
customers and “shop with the eyes”
mentality

7. Design & space allocation for tableservice restos
➲
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Combine grace with convenience
Remember “single” diners as planogram is
developed (high-tops, bar areas, communal
tables)
Avoid wait clogs in seating areas
Reservation systems go mobile and are not
hard-coded into design to avoid waste of
space

8. Convenience in takeout
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Takeout is made convenient and easy
Table-service: Dedicate space for pick-up
orders inside and incorporate pick-up
express parking spots
Train for takeout execution and speedy,
convenient customer service
Obtain feedback from customers on takeout
execution to continually improve
convenience

9. Convenience in takeout for quickserves
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Use technology to make ordering seamless
and have it fit into customers' busy schedules
Use ordering technology that is intelligent
and will not overtax your capabilities at peak
times.
When using a third party online ordering
service, check for reputation, actual payment
turnaround and end-user reviews before
signing up.

10. Convenience in takeout for quickserves
➲
➲
➲
Use technology to make ordering seamless
and have it fit into customers' busy schedules
Use ordering technology that is intelligent
and will not overtax your capabilities at peak
times.
When using a third party online ordering
service, check for reputation, actual payment
turnaround and end-user reviews before
signing up.

11. Convenience in catering
➲
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Calendar, business tools for customers
Train suggestive-selling techniques right to
avoid “time warps” for busy customers
Optimal execution of catering: on-time,set
up tactics, presentation
Menus address special diets, nutrition and
healthy-eating
Quick-serves: Convenience packaging,
lunch boxes and enhanced beverage
options

12. Stay in touch
Use these tips and
share as you wish
but always do so in
the spirit of proper
attribution.
Learn more about me:
http://about.me/rick_zambrano
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http://rickzambrano7.blogspot.com