Commentary

Personalisation is changing the restaurant experience - don't get left behind

How do you offer the personal touch of a barista who knows your coffee order before you walk into the cafe, but in a fast food chain with 1,000 outlets?

Personalisation is changing the restaurant experience - don't get left behind

How do you offer the personal touch of a barista who knows your coffee order before you walk into the cafe, but in a fast food chain with 1,000 outlets?

Restaurant revamps without the downtime - it's what we do

At some point you’ve probably heard someone describe their job as being like “building a plane as I’m flying it”.

Swift service is everything - even in a pandemic

It seems, on the face of it to be the antithesis of good customer service - replacing the human touch in restaurants with less personal drive-thru, kiosk and delivery options.

The pandemic is shaping the future of fast food restaurants

This year marks 100 years since the first real fast food restaurant in the world opened its doors.

Will the rise of online sales cut both ways in retail leasing?

(Editor's Note: Reposted with permission from LeaseInfo Group.)

Taming the social creature

I’m going to be honest: since COVID-19 hit Australian shores, I have spent just one day working at home with the wife, kids and dog, and that was enough for me. I was lucky to be able to ride my bike into an empty office, with its vacant desks and deserted boardroom, and do the ultimate soul searching there.

How to know you're ready for your own food delivery app

During COVID-19, food delivery has boomed. As more and more customers choose to stay inside for their own safety, restaurants and cafes are having to adapt their models to continue to serve them.

Speeding up or changing course? How COVID-19 has reshaped QSR trends

As the COVID-19 pandemic has gripped the planet, one of the most clearly and significantly impacted industries has been hospitality, spanning the largest global QSR brands all the way to your small neighborhood coffee shop.

Technology in the time of COVID-19

If someone had told me in February this year that in a month’s time I would be leading a department that supports technology in 2,500+ stores and multiple offices across three regions (ANZ, Europe and Japan), as well as building and evolving a multi-billion dollar digital platform all from my home while the world was in lockdown, I wouldn’t have believed them.

Six marketing tips to save your quick service restaurant brand post-COVID-19

With store reopenings imminent, most QSR brands will prepare for operational readiness, including adjusting processes to expected government requirements relating to customer and staff safety and hygiene.

QSR focus: quick marketing hacks to grow your restaurant at pace

Quick service restaurants are growing rapidly and competition can often feel like a feeding frenzy.

Bust the queue: why payments are the key to keeping QSR customers happy

(Editor's Note: This contributed piece has been lightly edited for clarity.)

Retail leasing - the past and future decade

As the dust settles on the end of the “teens” decade, the contrast between the start and the end for retail leasing in shopping centres could not be more pronounced.

Supersizing transactions with the power of payments data

The days of “drive-through or counter?” are long gone. True to a market where convenience reigns supreme, the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) sector has been marked by a widespread adoption of new ordering options including self-service kiosks and order-ahead mobile apps, all of which are designed to reduce wait times and drive customer convenience.

What are your distinctive brand assets?

Speaking of a great food experience, I was reminded the other day how much I enjoyed the distinctive salty and flowery taste of month old Play-Doh during my formative years. What jogged my memory was reading how Hasbro had successfully trademarked the smell of their popular brand.

The five most common dietary requests in 2019

Working in an industry where the customer is pivotal to your success, it’s important to acknowledge and understand their needs and requests. We used to roll our eyes at the ‘difficult’ customer with an allergy or demand. But in 2019, it’s time to embrace their needs and preferences – and if you don’t, they’ll simply go next door to the store that will. Working as a consultant in product development and nutritional communications, I’ve always got my finger on the pulse of dietary trends – here are the top five requests we’ve seen so far in 2019:

The golden opportunity for emerging franchise systems

Make no mistake, one of the main reasons people invest in a franchise system is to follow a track record of success.