Step 1: Problem Recognition

Wilson’s Family Restaurant is a renowned local restaurant in Struan that specializes in serving authentic traditional cooking. Over the years, the restaurant has built a loyal customer base by providing quality homemade food and creating the best dining experience in town for its customers. However, a gradual drop in sales has been observed for some time after the change of ownership. It seems like, although the business was run within the family, customers felt more connected to the previous owner. This can be because Mark was previously working in the hospitality industry and had experience in customer handling. For any business, it is crucial to understand the needs of the customers. Mark was able to understand and anticipate the needs of the customers, which resulted in a higher loyal customer base.

On the other hand, John had little experience of interacting with customers and so was not able to develop customer service skills. Although he had great culinary skills that impressed the customers, they could not connect with him as much as they could connect with Mark as he lacked the charming personality that his father had. This was one of the reasons why Wilson’s Family Restaurant sales and customer base were declining.

The future opening of Swiss Chalet, a popular Canadian chain restaurant nearby Wilson’s was an emerging threat for this local restaurant. Since it is a familiar restaurant nationwide, tourists are likely to prefer Swiss Chalet over local restaurants. Moreover, their online presence, take-out, and delivery services are also a major strength for this restaurant. Customers have the flexibility to order from home and enjoy their meal without coming to restaurants, making it convenient for them. Besides, Swiss Chalet provided more menu options than Wilson’s to choose from. In addition to food, customers could also enjoy a wide range of popular beer and wine from all over Canada. Since Wilson’s was a local shop, most of their items, including beer and wine were locally sourced.

Finally, Wilson’s Family Restaurant was also losing its potential customers due to a poor advertising strategy. They only focused on advertising locally through signs outside restaurants, newspapers, and flyers. As a result, tourists and customers of nearby cities did not know about their restaurant. Swiss Chalet on the other hand can increase its customer base by taking the opportunity to promote on television and social media platforms that can increase brand awareness and reach a large number of target customers in Struan and nearby cities.

            So, from the above problem definition and assumptions, we can conclude that the future opening of Swiss Chalet in Struan will attract tourists and local customers resulting in a drop in sales for Wilson’s Family Restaurant as it will lose its potential and existing customer base.

Step 2: Situation Analysis

SWOT ANALYSIS
StrengthsWeaknesses
  Solid reputation of being the best local and homemade food in town.Strong customer loyalty.The new owner-manager John has an education in culinary arts which adds more value to the restaurant.John is customer-oriented and takes care of the needs of the customers.The food menu varied each week, which gives the customers a change of taste. Offered community people and tourists a taste of local cuisine.  Fewer options on the food menu.Limited capacity (56-person seating capacity) cannot accommodate tourists, local customers, and people coming from nearby cities. They do not have any online website where customers can order.They do not have takeout or delivery services.They only advertised locally through signs outside restaurants, newspapers, and flyers. As a result, tourists and customers of nearby cities did not know about their restaurant.  
OpportunitiesThreats
  Advertising on social media platforms can increase brand awareness and reach a large number of target customers outside Struan.Expanding in-store capacity can accommodate more customers.Providing more options on the menu for customers to choose from.Creating a website where customers can place an order online.Include delivery and take-out services for the convenience of the customers.Offering beer and wine of popular brands produced all over Canada.  Opening of Swiss Chalet in Struan.The popularity and brand recognition of Swiss Chalet all over Canada.Swiss Chalet menu has more menu options.Customers can view the menu from the website and order online.Swiss Chalet has take-out and delivery services of Swiss Chalet.Swiss Chalet can open a restaurant that has more sitting capacity than Wilson’s.Swiss Chalet offers a wide range of beer and wine of popular brands from all over Canada, not just limited to Ontario.
BCG Matrix – Wilson’s Family Restaurant
High Market GrowthHight Market ShareLow Market Share
  STARS   Solid reputation of “best local and homemade food” in the local community and nearby cities.   Customer satisfaction is already their strong suit. However, with the change of ownership, there is further room for improvement.  QUESTION MARKS   Currently sourcing wine and beers only within Ontario. Introducing wine and beer from popular brands all over Canada can increase market share by attracting potential and new customers.   Marketing and advertising strategy are focused to attract local customers only. Advertising on television or social media platforms can increase brand awareness and reach a larger number of target customers.    Introducing online orders, take-out and delivery services can increase market share as customers are looking for convenient options.  
Low Market Growth  CASH COWS   Classic North American dishes like salads, soups, hamburgers, sandwiches, and freshly baked desserts attracted some customers who prefer traditional cuisine.   Their in-store capacity has always been fixed for 56 persons. But due to the limited sitting capacity, the restaurant will always face low market growth.      DOGS   New varieties to the food menu like salmon, various cuts of steak, perogies, and gourmet pizzaz did not add any value. Their loyal customers were traditional food lovers who enjoyed the local cuisine. Customers preferred more options to choose from in a particular item than selecting from a large variety.

Step 3: Problem Definition

The sales revenue and customer base of Wilson’s Family Restaurant are gradually declining because of multiple factors like change of ownership, fewer options in the food menu, no take-out or delivery services, advertising only locally, etc. But the main reason for which the sales are declining is that Wilson’s restaurant did not make any change in its business model over the years. It is almost like eating the same menu in the same ambiance.

The customers that Wilson’s had 17 years ago, and the customers at present are quite different from each other. Their needs have changed over the years. While customers back then preferred traditional cuisine, current customers might prefer something like easy-to-go food, where they don’t have to dine in.

With time and the emergence of technology, the only way to maintain success in a business is by adapting to surroundings. Although Wilson’s restaurant has a great reputation, due to its monotonous business strategy, it is losing its customer base in Struan as well as the countryside. Nowadays customers are more technology-oriented and the most effective way to reach them in 2022 is through digital platforms. Since Wilson’s is still advertising in local newspapers or flyers, they are not able to reach a large group of potential customers like tourists and people who live in nearby cities.

As the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, said: “change is the only constant.’’ Wilson’s Family Restaurant should also take steps to change its business model that best suits its customers. Only then, customers can feel connected, which will eventually lead to promising numbers of loyal customers and thus an increase in sales.

Step 4: Identification and Analysis of Alternatives

Wilson’s Family Restaurant is experiencing a drop in regular sales, and a well-known competitor will soon join the area. John is concerned that the opening of Swiss Chalet will result in future sales declines and a significant loss of his existing customers. There are a few suggestions that John could consider solving his issues. Prices cannot be reduced because John is already satisfied with them, and they are competitive with Swiss Chalet’s prices.

 Other alternatives include:

Improve the efficiency of promotional activities:

WFR can expand its marketing by promoting its restaurant through newspaper advertisements, Google ads & tv commercials, or make a stronger presence in social media such as Instagram and Facebook. Personal selling may also be an option in this situation; Wilson Family Restaurant could give special deals to regular customers or new visitors, provide coupons to encourage customers to try new items, and do weekly menu specials.  Social activities may also be regarded as a form of promotion.

Increase the number of menu items:

Wilson Family Restaurant could offer a more diverse menu and/or new items could be served at a specific time or day. For instance, Thursday Wings, Friday Fish & Chips Special.

Provide varieties, side options, and whole meals:

John thought to add a multigrain option for bread-based items, but he could also offer non-gluten bread, dark bread, and toast. Further, WFR could expand its side options, such as fries, sweet potatoes fries, onion rings for a cheaper price. Family packs and combos could also be an option. For instance, Swiss Chalet offers Family & Party Packs, such as their ‘’whole Rotisserie Chicken and half-rack BBQ Side Ribs served with a choice of 4 individual sides, 4 white or multigrain rolls, and dipping sauces’’. It makes it easier for families and big parties to choose what they want, and this could help attract big groups and make them try different items as well. For small groups, a veggie, meat, or seafood platter could be better, or a whole pre-selected, individual meal like an appetizer, salad or soup & main or salad or soup, main & dessert.

Provide home delivery service:

Offering a home delivery service could attract customers from a different segment while also increasing sales by filling a gap in offerings that Swiss Chalet currently fills. This tool could also be used against Swiss Chalet’s online ordering service.

Managing service quality:

WFR can increase customer happiness and loyalty by hiring workers that are trained in offering the highest level of customer service, maintaining correct customer connections, and assisting in improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. John, as well as his current employees, should work hard to improve their customer service skills and recreate the restaurant’s comfortable, homey atmosphere.

Step 5: Alternatives Evaluation

Improve the efficiency of promotional activities:

Pros:

  • Social Media sites like Facebook and Instagram are easy and free to use.Coupons to regular consumers will give the business more loyal consumers, limiting the amount of money needing to be spent on marketing. Coupons will attract new customers as they will have a discount on their first visit, pushing them to come to WFR instead of another restaurant.

Cons:

  • The expense cost of using Google advertising and TV ads might be too expensive. It might not attract enough consumers resulting in a loss.
    • It is hard to target the market that the WFR is trying to attract on TV or a general ad campaign versus social media.
    • Coupons will make the profit margin smaller. There is no way to track if new people are coming to the restaurant because of their coupons or a couple of families are coming a lot because their friends are giving them their coupons.

Increase the number of menu items:

Pros:

  • This will bring in a larger target market of people, expanding the business and the number of consumers coming in. People will become repeat consumers as they will want to try new food items each time. The restaurant will be able to compete with businesses more easily as they will compete with them, having more options.

Cons:

  • The cost of adding more items to the menu will take away from some of the profits it might make. Research will need to be done to assess what dishes will work, costing the restaurant more money. The chefs will need to be trained in making more dishes.The kitchen will be busier and take longer to prepare more dishes due to there being more options.

Provide varieties, side options, and whole meals:

Pros:

  • This would attract larger groups with bigger bills to increase their income without taking up more space for multiple tables.Having options like gluten-free and vegan would increase the target market.Having pre-set meal options that are at discounted rates will make the consumers pick the same items, making it easier on the chefs.

Cons:

  • Having bigger groups select discount items will decrease profits.Gluten-free and vegan options are more expensive to buy. They are also harder to prepare.

Provide home delivery service:

Pros:

  • More people will be able to purchase food at their convenience in the comfort of their own homes.This will enlarge the target market as some people do not like dining indoors. This will come at no extra cost because Door Dash and Uber Eats are easy and free for the restaurant to implement.

Cons:

  • The store will have to keep track of online and in-store food orders, making them busier.They will have to hire more employees to keep track of everything.The store will have to purchase supplies to send the delivery driver to ensure the food is safe to travel with.

Managing service quality:

Pros:

  • Customer satisfaction will be at a high level, creating better reviews to attract more customers to the restaurant. Customer satisfaction being high will create more loyal customers to cut down on marketing costs.

Cons:

  • Hiring a customer service specialist will cost extra money for the restaurant. This idea will not attract many extra customers and will only be focused on the ones that already go to the restaurant.

Step 6: Conclusion

After looking over the multiple alternative evaluations, our group concluded that providing varieties, side options, and whole meals would be the best alternative for Wilson’s Family Restaurant to regain its sales revenue.

  • This option would increase the number of people in their target market, due to the expansion of the menu, and the addition of multiple side orders. More options are tailored to fit the needs of different consumers, which attracts new crowds.
    • More revenue will also be another benefit of this evaluation, as they are adapting to their consumers’ changing needs.
    • Stays up to par with competitors such as Swiss chalet, which has a variety of menu options as well that are always changing based on trends.

On the other hand, adding alternatives may cause issues with consumers not liking the new additions to the menu. Change can sometimes be negative and adding additional menu items may cause more harm than good. This can be due to familiarity, when customers are familiar with the menu and their specific orders, additional items will alter that.  

Step 7: Solution and Implementation

The Wilson Family Restaurant is recommended to move forward by providing varieties, side options, and whole meals.

To immediately complete:

  • The restaurant needs to do some market research on what sides, variations, and whole meal options will optimize their results the most.
  • Immediately following that an announcement on their social media and in the restaurant needs to be made so then the consumers will get intrigued. This will be done before a date letting everyone know when the changes will be made. Having this done before will ensure the word gets out and more consumers will find out.
  • The materials will need to be purchased so that coupons can be made, and the menus will be updated.
  • Food then will be purchased based on the demand that is gauged from the social media response.
  • The restaurant will launch an extra deal on the day of the food products and variations so then more people will come to try them.

Actions that will benefit the restaurant in the future:

  • The restaurant should keep track of how many of the new products are purchased to ensure they order enough to keep them in stock but at a profit.
  • Allow for a discount for consumers to do a survey on what they liked and did not like so that they may keep the right things in stock.
  • Keep on trends so that if a new variation of something becomes popular, they can offer that choice to increase sales.
  • Train staff to upsell to ensure not too much profit is lost and people are still purchasing off the normal menu.
  • Make sure to train chefs in making gluten-free and vegan options so preparing them will not be hard.

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