What is Business Intelligence?
Business Intelligence as a concept initially emerged in the 1960s and was coined and developed into computer models in 1989. What first started as an elementary tool for sharing information across organizations has tremendously evolved today into an expansive and well-rounded tool for enterprises to understand their business dynamics and make faster and more accurate decisions. Harris, R. defined decision-making as a study-based process to identify and choose between existing alternatives and Turban et al. emphasized the importance of computerized decision support systems.
Business Intelligence combines the strategies and technologies that help monitor, analyze and manage data of business information effectively. Business owners use this tool to drive change, enhance efficiency, identify problem areas and adapt to market turnarounds.
It is worth noting that 26% of all businesses worldwide have already adopted BI tools and it seems that the pace at which these tools are gaining popularity is not slowing down and is expected to be adopted by all businesses in the near future. In fact, the global Business Intelligence market is expected to reach $33 billion by 2025.
In this article, we will provide you with the basic information you need to embark on your BI journey as we walk you through the process of BI and its benefits for your restaurant.
How Does BI Work?
For any business to thrive, it must have goals and must employ all possible resources toward achieving them. This is where BI comes into play. Data is collected, processed, and stored and is then used to answer questions and help make decisions.
BI simplifies the understanding of data by converting them into charts and graphs and offers filters to navigate through them with ease.
According to Finances Online, 90% of sales and marketing teams consider BI an indispensable tool in getting their work done effectively.
According to a Bruner & Pomazal study, conducted in 1988,These platforms help executives make informed decisions by going through 5 stages; problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, choice, and outcome.
The processes of advanced Business Intelligence tools include:
Descriptive analysis: it uses initial data analysis to find out if there are any instabilities or fluctuations or to simply assess a situation.
Statistical analysis: it uses results from descriptive analytics and explores causes using statistics.
Predictive analysis: it studies past and present data to forecast the recurrence of trends.
Data mining: Uncovers trends in large datasets.
Querying: Pulls answers from data sets to data-related questions.
Reporting: Sharing data analysis with stakeholders so they can draw conclusions and make decisions
Descriptive analysis: it uses initial data analysis to find out if there are any instabilities or fluctuations or to simply assess a situation.
Statistical analysis: it uses results from descriptive analytics and explores causes using statistics.
Predictive analysis: it studies past and present data to forecast the recurrence of trends.
Data mining: Uncovers trends in large datasets.
Querying: Pulls answers from data sets to data-related questions.
Reporting: Sharing data analysis with stakeholders so they can draw conclusions and make decisions
Who Can Benefit The Most From BI?
Every business can benefit from this amazing tool. However, it is specifically designed for businesses with many branches or brands or aggregator integrations as well as businesses with a high volume of transactions. These types of businesses have difficulties monitoring and analyzing an immense load of data. BI tools are a useful way to help them manage their businesses effectively.
How Can Restaurants Profit From BI?
Did you know that BI can make decision-making 5x faster for your business? Here are the 4 main areas in which BI can help you make the right decisions to improve efficiency, cut costs and improve customer service.
1- Identify popular items: it helps owners analyze POS data to find out which items are popular and which ones are flopping across different branches. This aids owners in making confident decisions regarding pricing, promoting, expanding, or discontinuing an item.
2- Improve inventory management: It helps owners identify ingredients that are in short supply and need restocking or immediate purchasing. Moreover, owners can amend their use of resources according to a detailed analysis that uncovers the discrepancies between what was expected and what’s actually happening.
3- Uncover hidden problems: BI helps restaurant owners figure out overlooked problems such as supplier overcharges or slow traffic periods requiring fewer employees or vice-versa.
4- Improve loyalty programs: by analyzing customer data, restaurant owners learn how to reshape their loyalty programs to turn casual guests into loyal customers.
Introducing Foodics BI
In this context, we proudly introduce our new star feature, Foodics BI! A platform meticulously designed to help you dive deep into data analysis and use it wisely to drive more sales, better performance, and reduce costs.
Foodics BI helps Turn Your Data into Rich, Insightful Dashboards & Graphs. It provides the following:
1- Rich Charts: Generate rich pie and bar charts comparing various entities for faster and more accurate comprehension of your data.
2- Powerful Filters: Control the breadth of displayed information by using filters to decide the time or date range, branches, and even delivery zones.
3- Customized Alerts: Set notifications to receive alerts when you reach your target or hit a threshold you want to follow.
While this tool is useful and efficient, it goes hand in hand with traditional reporting and dashboards and takes Business Intelligence to a whole new level.
Business Intelligence is a crucial tool for large businesses to improve productivity, access information easily, increase revenue and make informed decisions that will ultimately play a key factor in whether the business will flourish or collapse. BI provides entrepreneurs with information to better understand their customers and therefore helps them improve customer service. Therefore, if you need a helping hand in managing your restaurant and relieving yourself of making fateful decisions based on mere intuition, it is time to invest in a BI platform that will simplify the hardest of duties and drive your business forward.
