Customer Database

  • Understanding loyalty programs in the pandemic age

    October 8, 2021
    Several key lifelines emerged for restaurants and other foodservice operations during the worst of the pandemic, from online ordering to curbside pickup and delivery and contactless payments. Another prominent trend was recognition of the importance of loyalty programs. Loyalty programs not only create a lasting connection between patrons and a restaurant and/or brand, but they also ...
    Read more about this post
  • OpenTable aims to help halt Canadian reservation no-shows

    September 17, 2021
    Canadians are eagerly returning to their favourite spots, with COVID-19 restrictions lifted to some extent everywhere across Canada and restaurants open again across the country. However, OpenTable data suggests that reservation no-shows are persisting as a problem for the industry. The provider of online restaurant reservations found that over 75 per cent of its restaurant partners ...
    Read more about this post
  • Canadians want indoor dining, technology, and to support local

    September 13, 2021
    Canadians are looking forward to returning to restaurants as long as safety measures are in place finds the 2021 Discerning Diner Report from Angus Reid and Restaurants Canada. In particular, 89 per cent of Canadians are looking forward to eating out with friends and family, with 64 per cent going so far as to say ...
    Read more about this post
  • The increasing importance of loyalty programs

    August 27, 2021
    Loyalty programs have become a vital tool for many restaurant operations. They’re nothing new in the foodservice space, but they are certainly evolving as a differentiator in a crowded industry. Not only providing an incentive for customers to come back and spend more money but also making it easier for them to do so in a ...
    Read more about this post
  • Handling the continuing restaurant labour shortage

    August 26, 2021
    It’s no secret that there is a restaurant labour shortage going on in the industry right now. Long recognized as a high-intensity, low-margin sector, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed many restaurant workers out of the industry, and many seem to have no plans to return. RELATED: The hiring dilemma: Luring restaurant workers amid pandemic ...
    Read more about this post
  • Preparing yourself for summer reopening & recovery

    July 12, 2021
    Canadian consumers are ready to keep supporting restaurants, but managing your margins and elevating guest experience are musts. By Tom Nightingale Canadian foodservice and hospitality is finally getting on the road to healing the deep wounds of COVID-19. On July 16, indoor dining reopens in Ontario for the first time since Easter weekend, a landmark summer reopening ...
    Read more about this post
  • How food retail and grocery are changing

    June 7, 2021
    Ryerson University’s Brookfield Institute has released a report detailing key ways in which the food retail and grocery industries are changing amid the backdrop of COVID-19. The new report, “Shake-up in Aisle 21: Disruption, Change and Opportunity in Ontario’s Grocery Sector,” concludes that the food retail and grocery industries are transforming at greater speed and with ...
    Read more about this post
  • Outlasting the pandemic: How tech is helping restaurants evolve

    April 29, 2021
    By Mo Chaar As restaurants grapple with ongoing closures throughout the pandemic, it’s clear that dining as we know it might never be the same. Bans on indoor dining in provinces like British Columbia have been detrimental as businesses watch Ontario’s restaurant industry with bated breath, which has already been set back more than $100 million ...
    Read more about this post
  • Restaurant Branding During COVID-19: Building connection with your community

    March 17, 2021
    In Part II of our three-part look at restaurant branding during the pandemic, we assess how operators can build a lasting connection with their community. By Doug Radkey In Part I of this series, the word connection was used often. When you are building or rebuilding the essence of a brand, it is all about the connection you build ...
    Read more about this post
  • The dichotomy of third-party delivery services

    March 4, 2021
    The debate around third-party delivery apps is intensifying amid the economic impacts of COVID-19 By Tom Nightingale For the foodservice businesses and restaurants that have been able to survive the last 12 months of COVID-19 pandemic, keeping up with the fast rate of change has been vital. In particular, operators across the country have had to lean ...
    Read more about this post
  • Restaurants can learn from sports to drive customer loyalty

    March 3, 2021
    By Mo Chaar As sports fans across the country don their team jerseys to cheer loudly with their household from their couch and set the pace for a new normal of household homegating, restaurants should look to major sports franchises for inspiration on driving customer loyalty and rebuilding their customer base. Restaurants have been put through ...
    Read more about this post
  • Longo’s ranks as No. 1 grocery retailer among customers

    January 22, 2021
    Longo’s was ranked as the No. 1 grocery retailer in the 2020 Ontario Leger WOW study, with high scores for customer satisfaction and safety.
    Read more about this post
  • Boosting customer loyalty digitally as in-person experience wanes

    December 18, 2020
    Digitizing customer loyalty is the way forward for foodservice operations as the pandemic continues into 2021.
    Read more about this post
  • Restaurants can learn from the pizza chain delivery model

    December 8, 2020
    Restaurants and operators must be careful not to cede control over customer loyalty as off-premises consumption becomes the norm.
    Read more about this post
  • Six useful customer privacy protection tips for restaurant owners

    October 27, 2014
    By the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada October 27, 2014 Between keeping up with the most recent culinary trends, new technologies and customer expectations, your plate is full. Small businesses often don’t have the money to hire privacy specialists – but good privacy compliance doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming for restaurant owners. As ...
    Read more about this post