Restaurant Impossible?

I’m a huge fan of the Food Network.  I love to cook.  I love to grill.  I love experimenting with new recipes.  One of the more entertaining shows on the Food Network is called Restaurant Impossible.  The premise of this show is about a chef named Robert Irvine, who always reminds me of NFL Referee Ed Hochuli due to them both wearing tight fitted shirts that show off their guns.  (Let’s be real, if I was a walking gun show, I’d probably buy my shirts 2 sizes too small too.)

Chef Irvine goes into a failing restaurant and has 48 hours and $10,000 to turn it around.  A majority of the show is spent fixing the operational and aesthetic aspects of the restaurant and the menu.   However, there’s always a 5-10 minute segment focused on marketing.  Chef Irvine always needs to find a way to generate buzz and bring customers to the grand re-opening of the restaurant.  In marketing terms, he’s focused on “push marketing.”

I have a handful of friends in the restaurant business and they’re always looking for ways to attract more patrons.  They all share a similar sentiment:  If I can just get them to try my food, I think they’ll come back.  Here are a number of very cool stats published in a collaborative study titled “The Mobile Path to Purchase” by Telemetrics, xAds, and Nielsen.  These are some rather convincing numbers.  Especially since I my own behavior seems to fit right into these statistics.  I hope this helps all you restauranteurs:

  • 89 percent of smartphone owners and 84 percent of tablet users have immediate purchase intent and take action within 24 hours of their research.  (that’s not a typo.  89%!)
  • 64 percent of smartphone and 44 percent of tablet users in Restaurants make a decision within an hour.
  • 84 percent of mobile users had looked for a business location or maps and driving directions in the past month.
  • Smartphone local directory apps are most popular for Restaurant (53 percent)
  • 75% of smartphone users seek restaurant info while on the go and over 50% of that activity is happening in a car.
  • 65% of smartphone users look for restaurants within local walking or driving distance.

Bottom line:  get your business on google maps/local  apps, yelp, urbanspoon, and other social directories.  We can help you get there.

Here’s an infograph for you to enjoy with more data:  http://www.telmetrics.com/mobile-path-to-purchase-study-restaurant-searchers/

 

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