With hustle-centric lifestyles and no time to sit around waiting for food to arrive, quick service restaurants have picked up business-pace in India as well as the globe. For instance, McDonald’s was the first to enter India in 1996 and disrupted the segment with its Happy Meals. The market is projected to reach ~INR 25,000 Crore by 2021 and grow at 20% CAGR according to leading market research reports.
Their biggest competitors are the street food vendors. Yes, as much as we like to binge on our burgers, pizzas and donuts, we Indians also crave for that special chaat from Khau Galli in Mumbai, the dosas from Anna’s stall, the Chinese and momos from Connaught Place in Delhi and this list is endless.
What makes these roadside eateries so successful?
1. The food served is hands down mouth-watering.
2. Price- Every dish is very economical and great value for money.
3. Convenience- Every street has one stall that serves either chaat or sandwich or momos, which is a perfect snack for mid-day hunger pangs.
Many QSRs have made their place in this segment and have managed to survive the competition, not only from their peers but also from these street food vendors.
What has helped them sustain themselves?
1. Target Audience
They have carefully chosen their target audience and curated a menu to cater to them. For instance, KFC has focused on its non-vegetarian audience since its competitor didn’t bring enough variety for this segment of the population; and we all know how popular KFC chicken wings have become.
2. Focus
Each of these quick service restaurants have a focused menu. Dominos focuses on Pizzas, McDonalds focuses on Burgers and Fries, while Mad Over Donuts has focused on donuts and coffee. Choose your domain and go all out on it.
3. Innovation
One needs to constantly innovate to stay in the game and sustain their business. The most important thing to innovate here is the menu. Using inresto DineIn, you can curate the menu while adhering to Covid-19 norms as it allows you to not only provide digital menus but it also helps you save miscellaneous expenses such as cost for printing new disposable menus.
4. Sales Channel
Popular sales channel options are dine-in and home delivery/online delivery. One needs to decide the objective and feasibility. If the overhead costs are too high, running cloud kitchens is the way to go and with online food delivery gaining momentum, it’s the icing on the cake! Opting for inresto order will allow you to not only develop your very own order receiving and management platform but also enable various other features such as campaign management and menu management.
5. Consistency
It is necessary to maintain consistency in terms of taste, diner service, and portion sizes across all branches if you want your franchise to gain long-term brand loyalty from its diners.
6. Online Marketing
In an increasingly digitized world, we cannot undermine the significance of online marketing for running the QSR successfully. Social media has evolved as one of the most inexpensive forms of online marketing channels. A strong online presence of your brand will bole well for your sales. Instagram is the best platform for promoting a quick service restaurant., especially if you are catering to a niche.
Online marketing comprises both social media marketing and website optimization.
7. Create Your Own Website Using inresto Online Order
The first step is to develop an attractive website for your QSR. You should then optimize it for the right keywords, preferably long-tail keywords. On-page SEO tactics will help your brand’s website to rank organically on Google. If budget permits, you can opt for paid Search Engine Marketing (SEM) as well. Uploading blog posts regularly and submitting guest articles for authority websites in your niche will garner significant revenue for your quick service restaurant.
A great option is to outsource the website development and SEO blogging services.
8. Mobile App Marketing and Loyalty Rewards Using inresto Loyalty
Online orders cover more ground when it comes to reaching more customers. Launching your mobile app will help you capitalize on those untapped customers who can’t necessarily opt for dine-in experience every single day. A successful QSR advertising campaign should be combined with mobile app marketing. The mobile app can have a loyalty program built into it. For best results, integrate the customer resource management (CRM) with the point-of-sale (POS) system of your quick-service restaurant.
You can opt for inresto’s loyalty management tool for tracking reward points, effective consumer interaction, and easy redemption. The product offers a spend based loyalty program and visit based loyalty program. You can choose what works best for your QSR. Having complete control over the nature and amount of rewards you want to offer is a cherry on the cake!
9. Superior In-Store Experience to Revamp Sales
Having a remarkable in-store experience of your QSR is essential for enhancing brand affinity and awareness. A superior on-site experience increases the chances of customer retention. Such a great in-store experience is also imperative for word-of-mouth marketing. Such a strategy is what made McDonald’s a highly successful brand.
Moreover, customers are more inclined to make impulsive, last-minute purchases owing to a pleasurable in-store experience. As a quick service restaurant owner, you always want positive customer reviews. Offering them memorable experiences will increase the probability of them leaving five-star ratings for your brand!
10. Offline Marketing Strategies
Offline marketing strategies will always be relevant since local customers are the primary target of any quick-service restaurant. You should conduct organizational events from time to time apart from creating festival themes. As part of offline marketing strategies, you can also put up hoardings across the city. Newspaper advertisement and pamphlets distribution are also great ideas. As a brand owner, active involvement in various food festivals is also necessary.
Above all, never forget the basics of doing business- knowing your market and appropriate strategy. All these ingredients make the special sauce to running a successful quick-service restaurant, in any business environment using an inresto Campaign.
