Integration of technology is key to a restaurant's success, says Abhishek Bose, CEO and Founder of My Menu

Mr. Abhishek Bose, CEO and Founder of My Menu has recently authored a book on marketing for the Food and Beverage sector which he feels everybody should read. DNA conversed with him to find out why.

Here are a few excerpts:

1. From being a professional associated with Oracle Hospitality to having 25 years of experience in the hospitality and food and beverage space, to becoming the Founder of MyMenu and CITYMYWAY, how has this journey been for you?

Embarking on this journey has been nothing short of fascinating. My unique blend of degrees in hotel management and computer science unexpectedly complemented each other when I began my career implementing the Fidelio System (now known as Opera by Oracle Hospitality) in hotels.

I had the privilege of being involved in 36 pre-opening hotels in a span of just 3 years. Subsequently, as Assistant Director of IT at the esteemed 7 starBurj Al Arab (Jumeirah Group), I developed a deeper understanding of hotel brand dynamics and how every guest touch point is important. Transitioning to TeleAdapt in the Middle East & India, I was instrumental in establishing TeleAdapt’s products as standard across multiple hotel brands. With a background in hotel school and a passion for food, I simultaneously pursued being a restaurateur; partnering in over 4 restaurants – including both Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) and casual dining restaurants. 

The biggest challenge I faced as a restaurateur revolved around maintaining consistent service standards. The challenge stemmed from a limitation on salary brackets for service staff (limited due to the business model and competitive pricing strategy), most restaurants and hotels suffer from high staff turnover. I quickly identified that no technology company was addressing this issue. Hence My Menu was created, it started as a tablet menu which runs on both Android and IOS. My Menu replaced the boring printed menus with interactive digital menus with food videos that made it an immersive experience for guests and helped restaurants upsell the food without the need to train the staff on the menu as all information about the food was communicated via the tablet menu app. 

Fast forward to 2020, coincidentally we had just launched our QR Menu and COVID hit. We immediately identified that the use of QR Menu, also called ‘contactless menus’ helped in reducing the spread of the virus. Although we were a small company with limited resources, we volunteered to offer our QR Menu for FREE to help restaurants stay safe around the world. Fortunately most of our clients carried on with our platform and decided to become paying clients once the industry was back, this definitely helped establish us as an industry leader. 

Also my past personal experience with operating restaurants and understanding hotel brands, helped define My Menu which truly reflects and represents the restaurant and hotel brands we cater to. Not just with colour, font, design of the menu but we customise the guest journey itself.      

We are currently a brand standard with multiple hotel chains such as Accor, The Park, ITC Hotels to name a few and a preferred solution with most hotel companies. We have all the major luxury hotel brands as our customers such as Raffles, Fairmont, Banyan Tree, Conrad, JW Marriott, Kempinski, Melia, Caesars Palace, Taj, Pullman, Hilton, Sofitel, Crowne Plaza, etc to name a few. We are currently running in 4200+ restaurants 450+ hotels across 70 countries. 

2. What is your motivation behind authoring this book and what made you feel that this book is required reading?

Many restaurant owners and F&B professionals I meet, continue to operate their establishments much as we did a decade or more ago. Even the new hospitality graduates aren’t taught any different. In the past decade, the landscape has changed 180° – from Instagram-worthy presentations, dietary trends, foodie videos, the dominance of influencers running the show – the industry has evolved dramatically. Online sales and delivery have become indispensable, particularly due to the impact of COVID-19. And the old rulebook? Rather outdated. Today, the integration of technology is key to a restaurant's success, making this book an essential read for anyone in the industry.

3. What makes this book different from other marketing books out in the stores?

This book contains insights not just from my own personal experiences but also from the success stories of thousands of establishments using My Menu. The book has actionable strategies you can implement in your current business and see an immediate increase in sales!

4. As a reputed industry figure yourself, how do you see the food and beverage industry changing?

The food and beverage industry is undergoing rapid transformation, largely driven by technological advancements. As technology becomes more embedded in our daily lives, it has significantly altered consumer behaviour. Whereas a prime location was once crucial for a restaurant's success, today, a strong online presence can be just as, or even more, important. Established brands have demonstrated success without a physical storefront, with consumers discovering and deciding to engage with them through social media and their digital footprint.

5. What are some trends in the food and beverage and hospitality space that you predict will completely revolutionise the industry

Robotics, AI and Sustainability. One of the biggest challenges has always been maintaining consistency, in service and also in food production. AI driven digital menus ( such as My Menu www.mydigimenu.com) are helping maintain consistency in service and robotics is helping maintain consistency both in service (robot delivery trolleys) and also in food preparation. 

We have witnessed an unprecedented need for consumers to be not just sustainable themselves but they would like to see that businesses they support are working towards a sustainable future. So much so that consumers now would like to know the carbon footprint of the food item they are consuming. This is forcing restaurants to work with ingredients that are sustainable. Very soon you will see every restaurant brand having a plant based sustainable section in their menu.

6. The book talks about various marketing strategies and tools that can be used to increase sales in the food and beverage industry. Could you share some strategies that you feel every marketing professional in the FNB space must adopt if not already done so?

The most important strategy I would highlight is - Know your customer. Thanks to the high level of competition in the F&B space, every brand is trying to create its own unique space. This of course is very good for the industry and forces us to evolve at a very fast pace. The downside, consumers are divided between trying out a new concept or being a repeat customer to a previously visited restaurant that they really liked. This is making it very hard for restaurants to retain repeat customers. Traditionally the 80-20 rule applied, where 80% of our business came from 20% of our customers. Unfortunately to achieve this, brands need to make a conscience effort to not only identify / know their clients but also engage with them to keep them coming back. 

This can be easily done without any investment in technology. Setup a simple loyalty, at the time of presenting the bill ask them if they would like to join your loyalty program. Entice them with an immediate 10% discount on the bill in exchange for their name and mobile number / contact details. Most POS systems allow you to record guest details. Tracking the guest along with the check gives you invaluable data to understand not just their likes and dislikes but also your repeat footfall ratio. By understanding the repeat footfall ratio, you can make incremental revenue forecasts for the future allowing you to take immediate action if you are not happy with your projections.