Chick-fil-A is using interactive data visualization technology to make better, faster decisions in its ongoing efforts to boost both revenue and customer satisfaction.
Photo courtesy of Chick-Fil-A.
| by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & RewardsThatMatter.com
Though Chick-fil-A was using customer sales data 15 years ago, the collection and analysis of c reams of sales and related information was a time-intensive ordeal that revolved around the use of Microsoft Excel and Access to createindepth monthly reporters for executives and operators. Fast-forward to 2019 when the brand isusing interactive data visualization, and now that keybusiness intelligence task is takingplace in real-time, with moreexpansive andrelevant data.
It's making a huge difference, according to Chick-fil-A Reporting Performance Team Lead Analyst Karen Hinson, who participated in a panel discussion earlier this month at the National Retail Federation Big Showin New York City.
Hinson said expediency and increased meaningfulness of the data the brand is obtaining through the use of Tableau has truly improved data-based decisionmaking at the QSR. As she put it, the approach is not only yielding "meaningful insight," but"getting that to the right people at the right time."
Hinson shared the brand's journey from Excel/Access to Tableau's technology during asessionat thethree-day annual show that was actually sponsored by Tableau, with itsGlobal Segment Director for Retail and Consumer Goods Jeff Huckaby moderating.
The system Chick-fil-A uses pulls in informationfrom relational databases, online analytical processing cubes, cloud database and even spreadsheets to generate needed graphs and charts, as well as creatingan analytics dashboard.The tools can also extract data, as well asstore and retrieve information from an in-memory data engine.
More than 85 percent of the top 100 retailers and more than8,000 retail and consumer goods companies worldwide are using the company's data products, the company said.
Fast, easy data
At Chick-fil-A —with2,000 locations and $10 million in sales —the data system dashboard automates the steps necessary to generate reports, while updatingdashboards to put information into the hands of those who need it, when they need it, Hinson said.
"Users can filter data quickly and customize the data so that they see exactly the data they are interested in, every time they log in," she said, adding that dashboards are available to all staff and pull several new dimensions of data. "It's about leveraging data to make faster and better decisions."
As she acknowledged, the brand sells chicken sandwiches and is typically not viewed as a data-driven company. But it is today, she said, and everyone from the C-suite to the frontline instores is focused on using the data to drive sales and boost the customer's experience.
The company is tracking trends from paper use to wages to food — any data point the company needs in order to make the right business decision.
Gone are the days where the analyst team spent an entire day building the monthly database to track check averages and other restaurant metrics.
"It was a complicated and time consuming manual process within the enterprise, intense gathering of data," said Hinson, adding the manual approach was one in which it was easy to make mistakes and prone to delays. And, she noted, there was no real security built in to protect the sensitive corporate data.
Even the brand's annual report—a crucial document—proved expensive to create and inefficient in terms of real-time decisionmaking value as it took a month to pull together.
Fostering a better customer experience
Today Chick-fil-A leaders, operators and staff have real-time data and a much larger scale of metrics with a few clicks. Every Monday morning everyone gets a "snapshot" of current metrics as well.
"There's a big picture dashboard for executives and leaders, (with) nightly key info, specific metrics a chief operating officerneeds every day. And everyone sees what the COO sees," she said.
Such a data-driven strategy is key as Chick-fil-A is focused on customer service and speed of service.
Hinson offered an example of how real-time data is driving a better customer experience. Chick-fil-A locations have small mini-fridges under cashier counters for quick access to menu items. But many times the intended time-saving aspect of grabbing something quickly didn't work out because location operatorsweren't sure how much of product would be needed on a daily basis.
A data analysis of what is needed (for example, juice for morning customers, salads for lunch customers) drove a new strategy in stocking product. That's made cashiers' jobs easier and reduced customer order wait time.
"The technology we are using lets us build, update, engage and foster a community of analysis and lets leaders and store managers share tips and tricks, best practices," said Hinson.
Judy Mottl is editor of Retail Customer Experience and Rewards That Matter. She has decades of experience as a reporter, writer and editor covering technology and business for top media including AOL, InformationWeek, InternetNews and Food Truck Operator.
