How to use Yelp data to scale your restaurant and be more profitable

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You’re probably well aware that we’re in the era of big data. More information than ever before is gathered on, well, everything, and that data has made entire new industries and multi-billion dollar companies. Google, Facebook, and pretty much every other big tech company is in the data business. Data is clearly extremely valuable to the point where it’s one of the most widely traded commodities in the world today.

But what does that mean in the restaurant industry? How has data changed the game, and how can restaurateurs rely on newly available data to improve their business? What kind of tools provide this data, and what can be done with it?

From a business owner’s perspective, what’s happening now with data is pretty cool. Instead of going the old-fashioned route of guessing, making extensive notes from personal observation, or simply relying on anecdotes, real data is now easier than ever to parse and understand. Consequently, tweaks can be made that are based in reality.

So, we’d like to discuss here just how the data gleaned from Yelp for Restaurants’ software can help improve restaurant business practices. There are a few different ways to look at this data: front-of-house (FOH) data gained from table management, data used to automate waitlists and reservations, data gleaned from Yelp Connect, and data from partner software like point of sale (POS) and inventory management software.

Have a seat and let’s start sifting.

FOH data: Empowering servers

Imagine you could retain and easily retrieve data on returning customers—things like their name, frequent orders, and birthday. Floor plans are fully customizable, making FOH management far easier than with one-size-fits-all services. What would that do for your servers, and how could the customer experience be improved?

With Yelp for Restaurants, this reality rather than imagination.

A good customer becoming a regular is one of the best things that can happen to a restaurant. Besides serving excellent food and drinks, providing warm, human-centered service is a time-tested way to make people comfortable and happy. Customers could choose to eat at home or get takeout, but many go to restaurants as a social exercise. In all aspects of life, being remembered makes a person feel appreciated.

Servers have a lot to remember, however, and they interact with different customers all the time. Keeping a laundry list of details on each returning customer is difficult using the brain alone. But when the data is stored in Yelp Guest Manager, the server is armed with knowledge that can take their customer service game to the next level. This data includes dining frequency, a customer’s favorite orders, their average party size, and more.

Imagine a server sees a returning customer on a date. After checking their order history, they ask if they want their usual Manhattan, which the customer will no doubt appreciate. Then they bring a free appetizer or dessert they’ve ordered before, which can also go a long way towards building rapport and making that customer a regular. People gravitate to places where they feel well treated.

Although data may seem cold and inhuman at first glance, it is simply information that can be used to empower human relationships—which are becoming increasingly valuable in the tech era we’re in.

Automating waitlists and reservations

Handwritten waitlists are a hectic affair full of guesswork and missed opportunities. On a busy night, customers have to show up in person not knowing if they could get a table, and hosts have to guess how long diners have to wait to get a table. This leads to uncertainty and lots of missed opportunities, including walk-outs and tables left open. If you’re still using old-school waitlists and reservation tracking, you’re turning off guests who now expect a more convenient, tech-forward approach.

With the advent of algorithms based on data, the analog system is now considered outdated. With Yelp Waitlists, wait times are automatically generated based on a number of data points. Yelp Guest Manager quotes wait times with up to 96% accuracy.¹

What’s more, would-be customers can hop on your waitlist via the Yelp app before they show up to the restaurant. Customers can see their wait time on their phone so they don’t waste time, and are notified by SMS when their table is ready. This can help lucky customers land a spot during busy nights and get restaurants more covers, thus boosting sales and shoring up the bottom line. Waitlists help customers ensure they get a table: When the wait is longer than 30 minutes, diners who book a table online on Yelp are 12% more likely to be seated than walk-in diners.²

Yelp’s reservation system plays a similar role. Customers can book seats long in advance of their intended dining date, which automatically updates in Yelp Guest Manager. This saves hosts time on the phone making reservations and helps prevent double-bookings, cancellations, and no-shows, especially since restaurants can require a credit card number for the booking. Yelp Guest Manager customers have average no-show rates below 10%.³

Driving sales with Yelp Connect

Yelp Connect is a powerful tool backed by the enormous reach of Yelp, where millions of diners look to find the best places to eat.

Connect is a game changer that helps you tell your story to the right people. It allows for customized calls-to-action on your restaurant’s Yelp listing, helps you showcase featured menu items, special events, and stories, and broadens your reach to potential diners. These updates show up on the Yelp app home screen, in email lists, and on your page. This content shows up for people who frequently dine in your neighborhood and people who have already eaten at your spot or left a review.

Yelp Connect can also help restaurateurs get a feel for their competition. It shows users which restaurants potential diners checked out on the Yelp app before yours, indicating who you’re up against. This invaluable insight can give you an idea of just where your establishment fits in a customer’s mind, including things like the prices they’re looking to pay, the dishes they’re interested in, or the ambiance and amenities they’d like to see.

Yelp Ads work hand-in-hand with Yelp Connect, and can lead to significant sales improvements. Guest Manager restaurants that add Yelp Ads experience up to an 8% monthly lift in diner bookings through Yelp.⁴

Syncing with POS and inventory management tools

Any good FOH management system will pair with popular POS and inventory management software. Yelp Guest Manager certainly does. Combining these tools allows for a whole new world of data to be analyzed, which really helps a restaurateur get into the nitty gritty of optimization.

Using all the tools at your disposal can help you identify the most crucial restaurant benchmarks and makes it easier than ever to parse the data. These benchmarks include things like:

• Menu item profitability
• Food cost percentage
• Table turnover rate
• Revenue per seat
• Inventory costs and food waste

Getting a firm grasp of these concepts is what makes a restaurateur a true professional, as it gives a clear overview of how things are really going—and what needs to change.

Ready to make the leap?

If you’re ready to make data work for you, there’s no time like the present. Restaurateurs from a few decades ago could only dream of the tools now available, which help streamline operations and highlight important points. They also make customer relations and marketing smoother than ever—which will be a lifesaver when you’re strapped for time. And who isn’t?

So, want to see just how it works in real life? Curious if it’s right for you? Reach out to us for a free demo and we’ll let you decide for yourself if Yelp for Restaurants’ tools are what you need.