Market research for a restaurant: quick and easy

Do you need to carry out market research for a restaurant and don’t know where to start?

The restaurant market study is a tool that helps you to know the type of public you serve in your establishment, allows you to know what products you will offer and to find out which will be the most effective advertising channel, among other actions.

With the correct use of market research for a restaurant, you will have the opportunity to offer a unique service that is very focused on the tastes of your customers.

Don’t miss a single detail about how to carry out a restaurant market study, its advantages and the steps to follow to obtain the results you expect.

What is a restaurant market study?

A restaurant market research is an analysis that is applied in gastronomic businesses to obtain data about the public that frequently attends the restaurant.

This data is used to make changes to the sales or advertising strategy to attract new customers and increase sales.

Typically, questions are asked of prospective customers and business owners to learn more about the interests, tastes and motivations of frequent customers.

Among the questions that make up the market research of a restaurant are: how many people visit the restaurant per day, what attracts people to the business and what is the type of public that visits the business, among others.

Why do market research?

By conducting market research for a restaurant, you answer all the questions you have about the service you offer.

If you support your market research with small surveys of your customers, you will have an objective view of what they are looking for in your business and what weaknesses you need to change.

This will help you to rethink your sales strategy and even think about changing the small details of the restaurant, such as the decoration, the chairs, the music, even some of the dishes.

Sites to find the information you need

Once you have set out to carry out the market research and the objectives you want to achieve, it is time to look for information in different media.

Information is necessary to know the environment of the restaurant and what the people who visit the restaurant are like, through tools such as statistics, online opinions or events attended by customers.

Official data

Official data can be found on the Internet. One site is the official website of the Spanish National Institute of Statistics.

There you can find the number of people living in the area near your restaurant, their social status, age, educational level and other data that can help you.

That way, you can make several decisions. One of them: how affordable your restaurant has to be in order to be a fixed option for the neighbours of the establishment.

Social data

In terms of social data, you need to maintain communication with your customers and the people who work in your restaurant.

Talking to them will give you an honest view of the restaurant’s service, what improvements it needs and why it is a good choice for diners.

This is the best way to collect social data. You can also observe your customers during service, as body language will give you more information than what they can tell you.

Online data

Review websites and social media are also a great source of information. There is no secret, these channels publish a countless amount of opinions posted by customers.

Detail every single point that is part of the restaurant review, whether positive or negative, and integrate it into your market research.

As a tip, pay special attention to reputation pages such as TripAdvisor or the mentions you have on social networks.

Analyse the competition

The management of your competitors’ restaurants is also an excellent source of information.

By visiting each establishment, you will observe – on your own – what differences there are between the service and the public of that restaurant and yours.

In addition, you can identify which strategies are working and which aspects are preferred by your audience.

This will give you an objective view of what you consider should be eliminated or added in the management of your restaurant, through market research.

Route to a good market research

There are a series of steps that you must follow to carry out a good market study of a restaurant.

The first is to set a date to carry out the study in the restaurant and to obtain the results you are looking for to enhance the work you are carrying out in your business.

As for the methods to obtain the information for the study, you should always keep an open mind to listen to customers and staff about what you are looking for with this market study.

Set your objectives

Before you start conducting a restaurant market research study, you need to define what you want to achieve or what information you want to discover or collect during the process.

Once you know what you are looking for with the market study, it will be easier to obtain real results that will be of great help in the changes you propose for your restaurant.

Analyse the sector

As the person doing the market research for a restaurant, you should take a close look at the service and customer experience.

To gather general information about the restaurant, take on the role of waiter and customer for a day

That way, you will get two different views of the restaurant management that will be of great help when doing the final analysis of the market research.

Consult your audience

The opinion of the customers is the most important in any restaurant business. So, if you consult their opinion, you guarantee a real vision of the service you offer.

Base your questions on what you want to know about the restaurant – type of service, faults, ambience – in a format that takes no more than five minutes to answer.

Also, the answers should be neutral and the customer should not feel pressured to answer what you want to observe.

You can ask these questions through in-store surveys, your website, social media or events you participate in so that customers have different options to express the information you need.

Discover your ideal customer

As you gather information from your market research, it will become clearer who the customers are that visit your restaurant.

With this basis, you can start to establish who is the buyer persona that you serve or that you want to serve in the establishment.

By understanding who the buyer persona of your business is, you will know what they are looking for in your restaurant and what they are like.

With this information you will have the opportunity to offer a service adapted to their needs.

Analysis of final results

Once the market study of your restaurant has clarified the doubts you had about the service and management of the business, you will have the information you need in your hand.

From that moment on, it will be up to you and your team to make the changes detected so that the restaurant can offer the service that everyone wants.

Don’t forget what you need for your restaurant

One of the aspects that is considered within the market research of a restaurant is the quality and functionality of the utensils that are used during the service.

To maintain the class and style that characterises your restaurant, in our Monouso shop we offer you a catalogue of catering products that will change the service to your customers for the better.

Depending on the type of restaurant you run, we have products made of plastic or biodegradable materials, just what you need for your type of business.

Another important point is that with our products you don’t have to worry about the appearance, you can find different designs and shapes that will help to highlight the dishes that are part of your menu.