Famous Brands continues to develop its consumer technology capabilities to create a meaningful competitive advantage for its brands and franchise partners.
The restaurant industry is transforming, and competition is fierce. Successful brands will understand their consumers, capitalise on digital technology options and analytics, and engage consumers in a personalised way. People expect certain conveniences when they order food or visit a restaurant. This includes mobile access, self-service options, personalisation, rewards, and no-touch transactions.
A cross-functional working group comprising senior management from different brands and disciplines manages technology projects across Famous Brands. With input from executive leadership and driven by technology leadership, this working group allocates the budget and ensures that projects are aligned with the overarching corporate strategy. The planning cycle for technology projects follows a one-year roadmap, emanating from a three-year strategy.
| 1 | Mad Money Restaurant Trends 2023: Opening the menu on what to expect in 2023. |
Technology supports strategy and makes some elements of the plan come alive. The restaurant fundamentals still matter: menu, value, and location are paramount in driving consumer attraction and satisfaction.
Enabling the delivery environment |
We were a pioneer of the delivery channel in South Africa. We have invested in delivery technology solutions in the Quick Service Restaurant space for several years. We work with a technology partner that provides driver and route-tracking software to ensure that our deliveries are completed efficiently and on time. Delivery is enabled through various channels, including call centres, websites and mobile applications. Consumers use the most convenient platform at the time and use different platforms at different times. We continue to enhance our brands’ mobile applications and websites to offer a seamless ordering experience. We successfully trialled a centralised delivery node model where one franchise partner will provide delivery services to other franchise partners within a certain radius. This means that franchise partners do not need to invest in their own fleet of motorbikes. We have begun rolling out this model throughout the network where appropriate. |
Taking a mobile first approach |
According to Statista, approximately 20 to 22 million South Africans have smartphones, about a third of the population. Famous Brands adopts a mobile-first approach for its consumer facing interfaces as consumers increasingly use smartphones to interact with our brands. All Leading Brands have a mobile application, and this channel is promoted in-store, on product packaging and through advertising activities. |
Improving payment processing for franchise partners |
We are reviewing all our payment systems across the Group, including credit card machines and online payment methods. The review aims to reduce costs for franchise partners by reviewing merchant and transaction fees and renegotiating better pricing where possible. The review also ensures that credit card machines are properly integrated into point-of-sale systems. This will unlock restaurant efficiencies and franchise partners can spend less time completing recons with their daily cash up procedures |
Better data for decision making |
We continued our multi-year project to formalise our database infrastructure in the cloud. While the infrastructure has been built, the migration to the cloud will take a phased approach. This migration will allow us to analyse and utilise data better. We are compliant with POPIA. We use our consumer data to segment our consumers. We communicate the right message using the right channel to reach the right customer. In 2023, we sent out approximately 66 million pieces of communication to our consumers, including SMS, push notifications and email. |
Rewarding customers with loyalty programmes |
Consumer loyalty programmes, especially at Casual Dining Restaurants, have been proven to boost revenues by increasing consumer frequency and providing upselling opportunities. Consumers seek out rewards programmes in tough economic times. Our loyalty programmes have proven popular with Casual Dining consumers. The ease of use via mobile applications ensures a convenient experience. |
Seamless e-vouchering |
Our e-vouchering capabilities allow brands to replace plastic card-based vouchers with a digital alternative that is simple to purchase and issue and apply to all brands within our ecosystem. |
| Providing minimal contact solutions |
The payments space in South Africa and other markets continues to develop. We offer a growing range of contactless payment options. This allows consumers to pay using their preferred method while reducing the need for physical contact between consumers and employees. Order and pay at table technology remains popular, especially where consumers seek a quick dining experience. This technology allows consumers to order and pay for the meal from their devices. This improves table turn times and hospitality while providing valuable data to understand consumers better. |
Improving operational efficiencies at restaurants |
We continue to roll out our self-service terminals in our Quick Service and Casual Dining restaurants. These provide an intuitive digital experience, give customers more control over the ordering process, and allows for order customisation while eliminating errors. Advantages for franchise partners include increased transaction sizes through upselling prompts, increased order volumes and shorter queues. These also reduce the number of cashiers required. Signature Brands make use of online reservation software to receive and manage bookings. This allows customers to book online or cancel their reservations. Automatic reminders are sent to the consumer via SMS. This software also allows restaurants to build an opted-in database to send newsletters or promotional offers. More than 1 100 restaurants have digital menu boards that present menu offerings in an engaging manner. With animations and enticing visuals, digital menu boards provide a visually attractive food offering, as well as opportunity to highlight time and/or weather based content, as well as enable agility on promotions and special offers. |
Managing our online reputation |
We work with a leading consultancy to monitor our online reputation. This consultancy tracks all reviews across our brands on several platforms, including Google, TripAdvisor and Facebook. They assist our brand managers in ensuring that our restaurants are visible on these platforms and that all restaurant details are updated. We manage social media activity for all brands for our franchise partners. Franchise partners have social media pages linked to our brand’s page, allowing for localised content. We have social media policies in place to guide franchise partners appropriately. |
