The epidemic has become a catalyst for the transformation and upgrading of the catering industry and the survival of the fittest. Thousands of catering people who are in the test are striving for survival and development.
Catering people who are burdened with the pressure of "three highs and one low" have now repeatedly suffered heavy blows from the epidemic, and the difficulty of survival need not be repeated.
In the blink of an eye, the fight against the epidemic by caterers has entered its third year. How to help themselves in an uncertain environment has become a big problem facing the entire catering industry.
01.
status quo:
Under the cold winter, what are the diners doing?
Dine-in partitioned dining, call for a public chopstick system, increase disinfection facilities, set up "place codes", peace of mind service... We still remember the measures taken by these stores to compete for offline business opportunities.
Then, as the epidemic continued, the "defense war" of offline catering quietly shifted to online in order to seek more open source and throttling opportunities. Catering stores have built their own private domain systems based on Mini Programs, WeChat communities, etc., or upgraded takeaways to obtain increments.
△Image source: Photo Network
At the same time, some catering brands have also begun to explore emerging business models such as "community group purchase + centralized delivery", "central kitchen + offline delivery", "catering + retail":
"Usually the operation is mainly offline, and it is also a good attempt to take this opportunity to open up more online channels."
"Many families are sealed at home, and there is a great demand for ingredients, so we contacted our own third-party supply chain, hoping to package and sell the ingredients directly to the families in the sealed area."
"Because the takeaway brother is also sealed at home, our employees also deliver meals part-time, ensuring that the service can also earn more income, which is also a small thing that can be done under the epidemic."
As the Red Food Network said before: For the sake of possibility, do our best, and do our best to do our best to save the current situation of catering people.
02.
ponder:
Human fireworks are always the most real need
Fortunately, as a pillar industry to expand domestic demand, promote consumption, stabilize growth and benefit people's livelihood, the importance of the catering industry is still unshakable.
According to KPMG's recently released "Report on the Development of Restaurant Chain Enterprises in the Epidemic Era", the national catering revenue in 2021 exceeded 4,689.5 billion yuan, an increase of 18.6% over 2020, and basically returned to the level of 2019 before the epidemic.
We firmly believe that as an industry closely related to people's livelihood, the catering industry will eventually usher in the spring. At the same time, we cannot deny that the epidemic will become a catalyst for the transformation and upgrading of the catering industry and the survival of the fittest.
△Image source: Photo Network
For the catering industry, every impact of uncertainties means an industry reshuffle. Catering people who are under the test of the epidemic need to recognize 3 facts:
1) Survival is a prerequisite for all possibilities
From the first "head-to-head confrontation" with the epidemic in 2020 to today, the epidemic has continued and counterattacked nationwide, bringing a lot of impact to catering enterprises and even the entire industry.
All indications are that the fight against this epidemic by caterers will be a protracted battle. In the face of such a trend, as large as the national economic level, as small as the development of catering enterprises themselves, they are facing a test of endurance. Only by staying up and surviving can the future continue!
2) After the crisis, it is a turning point
Just as the so-called "people take food as the sky", catering demand as the basic demand in all consumer experiences, we have reason to believe that after the crisis is the turning point of the industry.
But at the same time, we must also soberly realize that under the epidemic, consumer demand and concepts have undergone tremendous changes, and how stores follow the trend, highlight their brand characteristics to attract consumption and release consumption capacity is a major issue that all restaurant owners need to think about in advance.
3) Under the epidemic situation, the catering business should also change
For many catering people, especially those in the large-scale expansion of the brand, it may be a good thing to use this time to sort out the products and services and business processes of the store, and take advantage of this rare slow time to readjust the planning.
△Image source: Photo Network
On the one hand, with the transformation trend of the catering industry to digital retail, the relationship between people and goods in the catering industry has changed, prompting catering enterprises to make corresponding upgrades and changes in operation, data, marketing and management;
On the other hand, the epidemic will further affect the upgrading of consumer demand and the change of consumption habits, how to integrate "digitalization" with the catering consumption experience more comprehensively, or will be an important part of the reshaping of the core competitiveness of catering enterprises in the future, and catering brands need to be planned as early as possible.
To this end, catering companies in the "darkest hour" need to do 2 homework:
1) Before dawn, see the direction of departure
As mentioned above, the capriciousness of the epidemic has increased the uncertainty of the entire catering operation environment, and prices, rents, etc. have also fluctuated; at the same time, due to the impact of the "contactless" consumption model, the signs of "loss of contact" between catering enterprises and consumers are also more obvious. In addition, at the same time as the environment and needs are uncertain, there are also uncertain competitors...
Under many uncertainties, who can see farther and more accurately in the fog will have a better chance to seize the first-mover advantage and gain the initiative.
△Image source: Photo Network
2) Start again and do a good job of experience drive
The continuous upgrading from the demand side of catering consumption, in addition to forcing catering brands to continue to be vertical and refined, will also put forward higher requirements for catering services.
For example, we have seen in this epidemic that some catering brands can quickly provide diversified service scenarios such as one-person fast food, home dining, work meal delivery, and prefabricated dish delivery under the condition that their daily business scenarios are blocked, thus obtaining a rare increment.
In addition, it is also foreseeable that in the future, the emotional premium, brand premium and other experiential consumption characteristics will be more obvious, and catering enterprises need to start from the whole journey of customer dining experience, seek opportunities to improve innovative services, strengthen the cultivation of basic skills, and continuously innovate experiences based on consumption scenarios, so as to grasp the long-term trend of consumers' improvement of catering experience and strong demand.
03.
Let's go:
Food service is a dual practice of wisdom and strength
The catering industry is experiencing a great leap from "simply attaching to offline" to "integrating online and offline", and more and more restaurant companies are beginning to seek more intelligent means to open up consumption scenarios and improve the catering service experience.
As a professional platform that has long focused on data insight and digital management of customer experience, the CEM platform continues to pay attention to the digital transformation and upgrading process of the catering industry under the epidemic, and we believe that the customer experience management in the catering industry has "innate" advantages:
First, the experience journey of customer interaction with catering brands is relatively single, the key touchpoints are clear, and it is easier to create a digital, all-touch experience management closed loop;
Second, as a key area of catering brand reputation, online public opinion is also one of the important sources for obtaining customer experience data, monitoring and insight into consumer demand, providing inspiration and motivation for timely repair of experience and optimization of service improvement;
Third, with the help of a mature customer experience management system, catering experience data from clear and intelligent analysis to sub-regional, hierarchical and visual display provides more agile and intelligent decision-making assistance for the large-scale and standardized management of catering brands (especially chain catering brands).
In the past, the catering industry relied on manpower to provide products and services, and with the continuous iteration of consumer demand and industry development, the era of catering operations based on feelings and experience is no longer there, and it has become an inevitable trend for the catering industry to establish a brand and innovate services according to digital and intelligent means. As a result, it also lays the implementation direction and system of experience management for beshide service catering enterprises.
△ Experience management Digital management closed loop
In terms of implementation direction, Beishi must rely on the "Collection, Analysis, Action" trilogy to achieve real-time collection, regular collection and repeated collection of customer dining experience data, and provide data support for targeted research and improvement such as catering brand management, marketing decision-making, and store assessment based on data;
In terms of implementation system, the platform independently develops the BEST customer journey model, systematically integrates indicators such as customer consumption behavior, attitude, cause and result, sets a full-life cycle customer experience research and indicator system for catering enterprises, and realizes the implementation steps for digital customer experience management, providing a top-level design basis.
Finally, always full of tears, always full of pride, salute to all the catering people, and look forward to the new life together!