Fast Casual Restaurant Market Research

How can Fast Casual Restaurants grow their business and boost customer loyalty?

Market Research can help Fast Casual Restaurants to:

• Assess current customer satisfaction
• Identify key strengths
• Understand weaknesses
• Evaluate direct and indirect competitors
• Map the customer journey 
• Boost revenue and profitability
• Uncover deep insight into the brand motto/brand purpose

This can be valuable helping companies to boost profits, increase revenue and gain new customers.

Building Customer Satisfaction

When companies aim to boost customer satisfaction, Market Research companies like SIS begin to evaluate current customer satisfaction with the following activities:

1. Identify customers’ needs and expectations 
2. Ranking of these needs and expectations in terms of priority
3. Identify motivations to customer behavior to build loyalty
4. Assess performance against customers’ needs and expectations
5. Assess current strength and weaknesses
6. Identify key direct competitors
7. Understand how does a brand rate on priority services versus competitions
8. How can the brand deliver best-in-class services to stay ahead
9. SWOT analysis per area/branch
10. Building new customer touchpoints like online ordering and delivery

Understanding the Customer Journey

The Specific Objectives to define the customer journey can include the following:

• Identify the customers description of an ideal dining experience at a casual eatery to understand what makes such experience optimal
• Describe the profile of a typical customer
• Description, from loyalist, of typical non-customers
• According to loyal customers, identify what are the barriers for people who do not like to consume
• Description of the customer experience at the outlet
• What is the key purpose for visiting? And what are the key strengths?
• Identify what are the least appreciated elements 
• Understand how to build new profitable revenue streams such as online ordering and delivery
• Understand what are the most noticeable elements in the eating experience?
• Understand what are the least noticeable elements in the eating experience 
• Understand what would make the dining experience more comfortable, enjoyable, convenient, fun, memorable, outstanding, casual, formal, a place considered by the customer as relevant form him/her, a place that understands customer’s needs, a place that understands customer’s values, a place that speaks customer’s language, a place for all tastes, a place for all types of people.
• Identify how loyal customers map brands on the following elements compared with their next best eatery: parking assistance, welcome and reception, overall mood in the outlet, clientele, décor and furnishing, music, climate, service excellence, friendliness, food variety, food quality, food portion size, food presentation, value for money, a place that understands what matters to their customers, a place that innovates and keep up with the trends
• Identify the personification of the brand and customers’ next best restaurant
• Understand how the customers define the brand’s character
• Understand how the brand’s character is close to them