The context
Created by Alain Duquesne, the Ankka franchise has been offering a salad bar concept for over 10 years. Today, Ankka is present all over France and has made a place for itself in the healthy restaurant offer.
Latest opening: Ankka place Grenette, a new point of sale freshly installed in the center of Grenoble, in a listed building.
His challenge
Like thousands of restaurant owners, Alain and his franchisees have faced an unprecedented change in their business, brought on by Covid. On top of that, recruitment difficulties have become even more pronounced in recent years, and inflation has affected both raw materials and energy.
Very quickly, this question imposed itself on Alain:
"How do I get my customers to come back and have a good time at the restaurant, while maintaining my margin?"
According to him, the only possible answer lies in one word: digitalize.
It is therefore developing a strategy that is already bearing fruit and is based on 2 axes:
- place the customer experience at the heart of its organization,
- and automate all tasks that can be automated to gain productivity.
In an exclusive interview, he looks back at the strategy he has put in place to boost his franchise's business! 👇
1. Review the customer experience of its points of sale from A to Z
In just a few years, digital technology has completely changed the habits of restaurant customers. Aware of this evolution, Alain took the gamble of rethinking his customer journey and his concept.
In terms of concept, it has opted for a more cosy and warm atmosphere, in order to prolong as much as possible the frequentation and consumption in its restaurants.
In terms of customer flow, it has installed terminals at the entrance to simplify the ordering process as much as possible.
"Customers take the time to choose products at their convenience, which gives them a more fun experience. With kiosk order taking, not only do they know exactly what to expect at checkout, but there are no more errors on checkout."
Today, more than 90% of its customers pay by credit card or meal ticket directly at the terminals. The few customers who wish to pay with cash or paper restaurant vouchers go to the cash desk.
2. Streamline your kitchen organization
To meet the need for instantaneousness of customers, Alain has also digitized his kitchen with production screens.
Its goal: to serve faster while minimizing order errors.
Anthony, franchisee and manager of Ankka Grenoble details what they have put in place:
"We receive orders on the cash register and on the production screens. When the ticket comes out on the cash register, a team member takes the ticket and goes around the stations according to the order, following a one-way circuit. He then checks on the production screen that everything is present in the order and goes to deliver the order to the customer or delivery person."
Not only is its objective largely achieved, but above all this system offers much more ease for the teams.
"In rush, the organization is fluid, and requires less staff. For example, we don't have a full-time staff per shift. We also don't have a cashier since all orders go through the kiosks and come directly to the kitchen."
According to Alain and Anthony, this is the most efficient organization they have found to date.
3. Increase the profitability of its points of sale
Before the kiosks were installed, customers ordered directly from the salad bar with Ankka's teams, who made the salads in front of them.
Although Alain likes to emphasize pleasure and generosity in his outlets, the proportions often exceed the appetite of the customers and the waste is immense... According to his teams, the waiters often feel under pressure and put more quantity than reason!
With his new organization, Alain drew two conclusions:
- not only are the proposed doses better calibrated and avoid losses,
- but the terminals have allowed it to significantly increase its average basket.
"The terminal makes it easy to make additional purchases, such as a coffee or dessert. It's a hit with our customers because they are less stressed about choosing."
4. Improve the management of your franchise and your points of sale
For Alain, digital is a fantastic tool that he cannot do without today.
"On the back officeI have all the management figures I need to manage my points of sale as closely as possible. This source of real-time information on my entire network allows me to understand the functioning of each point of sale and to act immediately.
Another positive point according to him, the management of the communication which is done entirely remotely.
On the restaurant side, like all restaurant managers, Anthony spends a lot of time on the numbers.
"With Innovorder, it's fast and efficient, I can manage everything easily. I spend a lot of time in the back office doing my accounting, my stats, and checking my sales. With all my analysis in front of me and I can adjust my gross margin or payroll every week."
👉 To go further, discover Anthony's testimony, manager of Ankka Grenoble: Why Anthony recommends hiring a delivery person
5. Make the most of digital
For Anthony and Alain, Innovorder's big advantage over the other solutions they have tested lies in our ability to constantly develop new innovations, while offering local support.
"In the four years I've been a customer, I've seen a lot of development, especially on the kiosks, which are great. My teams also really appreciate the fact that they can easily close the cash register at night, especially with the "self-checkout" function of the cash register. Everything is simple and intuitive!"
Another point Anthony emphasized was the possibility of synchronizing Innovorder with other business solutions essential to his activity.
"Tools like . Combo (ex-Snapshift)or Ubereatsare directly integrated. For example with Combo, I have all my ratios at my fingertips: hourly rate statistics, hourly payroll, etc. It's great!"
What's next?
Building on the success of his franchise, Alain continues to develop with Innovorder.
"Ankka was one of the first franchises to believe in 100% digital and Innovorder has been with us since the beginning with super responsive teams. So we will continue to collaborate to keep our lead!"
Thank you Alain for your confidence!
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Do you run a franchise or do you want to launch your franchise? Call on an Innovorder expert and discover how to easily manage your restaurant network and boost your business!
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