Ed’s Easy Diner is turning tables up to 10 times a day in some of its shopping centre sites, according to chief executive Andrew Guy.
Guy told delegates at yesterday’s Fourth conference that sales per square foot was a key measure for the business. “We drive a lot of business though a small square footage, and we need to turn tables.
“We have a very simple menu, with no starters and very few desserts,” said Guy. “But desserts aren’t important to us. Our milkshakes are made with three scoops of ice cream, so you have your dessert with your main!
“In a shopping centre site, we will use every seat 10 times on a Saturday between 10am and 6pm.” He said average customer dwell time was 35 minutes.
Guy also revealed that Ed’s has built up a database of 524,000 customers.
“We email them twice a month and send them no more than three offers a year, at the end of each school holiday,” he said.
The business also runs competitions, an example being a recent one to win tickets to an NFL game. “People like our databases, and contact us with ideas.”
He said Universal approached the business to run a competition among its customers to promote a new 1950s themed hotel. It got 70,000 entries.
Guy said data is an important driver of decision making at Ed’s. “The information we want to know quickly - first thing on a Monday morning - is profit after labour and cost of goods. Other things you can look at later.”
He advised: “Identify the key numbers that make a difference to your business. And if you really want to focus on them they must be very few.”
