Shrinkflation against inflation
Dutch people prefer to be served smaller portions rather than having to pay more: 39 percent prefer 'shrinkflation' over a price increase for dishes of the same size. Half even indicate that they do not mind paying the same for less, as long as it is clearly communicated.
"Our menu is revised four times a year since our founding," says Quinta Witzel, co-founder of the popular poke chain Poké Perfect. "We do this because we introduce specials and want to offer seasonal ingredients, but also because we want to keep a close eye on our margins. This sometimes means that an ingredient disappears from the menu. The alternative is to raise prices or reduce portion sizes, but we do not change portion sizes on principle anyway, and no one is happy about raising prices. So we prefer not to offer the ingredient until the purchase price is back at an acceptable level. Food cost has a significant effect on your final profit margin, and that’s why we always keep an eye on it."
"It is reassuring to conclude from this research that Dutch restaurant visitors can empathize with the position of hospitality entrepreneurs," says Emine Youssef, Regional Manager Benelux Hospitality at Lightspeed. "While there is often less on their plate, they also understand that this is unavoidable in these economic times. The hospitality sector has faced many challenges in recent years, and many guests are happy to be able to enjoy dining out again. Additionally, almost every household has noticed that the cost of living has risen, and in their view, it is a logical consequence that this effect is also observed in the hospitality sector."
Lightspeed launches Advanced Insights for restaurants
To improve the profit margins of menus, gain more control over costs, map guest consumption behavior, and optimize staff planning, Lightspeed launches Advanced Insights in the Dutch hospitality sector.
Advanced Insights combines real-time order data from Lightspeed Restaurant with payment data from Lightspeed Payments – a unique feature in the hospitality technology sector – to visualize the performance of menus and staff, allowing hospitality entrepreneurs to make better, smarter, and above all data-driven decisions.
The add-on categorizes all products and dishes on a menu based on their profitability, order frequency, and customer retention. Clear heatmaps also highlight peak hours and top-performing staff, allowing staff planning to be better aligned with reality. Advanced Insights is a free add-on for the latest version of Lightspeed Restaurant and is available starting today.
"Shrinkflation is one of the ways hospitality entrepreneurs can cope with inflation and rising wage and raw material prices. Optimizing portion sizes has therefore become a daily task. Advanced Insights provides owners with the ability to simplify such choices using data, rather than relying on gut feeling. Advanced Insights gives hospitality entrepreneurs the insight to better protect their profit margins against unexpected circumstances and adapt to the actual consumption behavior of their target audience and changing trends."
More information about the new features of Lightspeed Restaurant can be found on our website.
Also interesting:
Read here: Why hiring a freelancer is a good idea
Read here: Companies without a global presence miss growth opportunities
