Why do Quick Service Restaurants Need Retail Audits?

A retail audit system helps multi-unit retailers achieve store-level compliance with brand standards such as operations, service and merchandising standards. How can retail audits help Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) and why do QSRs need retail audits? Here are 10 reasons why the QSR industry needs retail audits. Health and safety When preparing and serving food, … Continue reading Why do Quick Service Restaurants Need Retail Audits?

Great Sandwich. Lousy Washrooms.

I have a bone to pick with some of my favorite QSR brands. It’s not the menu. It’s not the service. It’s not the seating, the parking lot nor the drive-thru. Quick service restaurants have obviously poured money, systems and processes in these key areas and it shows. But when nature calls, or when I … Continue reading Great Sandwich. Lousy Washrooms.

How Much do Retail Audits Cost?

There are now mature, highly efficient, largely automated systems for conducting retail audits. Some organizations devise their own system, one or more "checklists", usually with Excel and email. Is this approach practical and cost-effective? In this post, we compare how much retail audits cost, with and without retail audit software. Let's get started. Excel and … Continue reading How Much do Retail Audits Cost?

Who Benefits from Site Visits?

Retail audits, store visits and hotel assessments are proven to protect the brand, drive brand standards, increase customer satisfaction and mitigate risks in multi-unit retail and hospitality. How exactly will retail audits conducted with Bindy benefit you? Here are some of the benefits you can expect from regularly visiting and auditing your sites with Bindy. … Continue reading Who Benefits from Site Visits?

10 Ways to Improve Store Execution

In-store execution is known to drive sales and cut costs.  But for these and other known merits of execution, how do you actually achieve it? Below, 10 tips to help you improve program execution across your locations. Let's dive in. 1. Seek clarity First, define and describe standards clearly and unequivocally. This point seems obvious but … Continue reading 10 Ways to Improve Store Execution

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Calibrating Checklists and Teams

In a retail and hospitality environment, a checklist is a collection of brand standards and best practices. What goes on the checklist reflects what matters to the brand (strategic initiatives, seasonal programs, etc…), what the brand is required to do (laws and regulations, health and safety, etc…) and what it aspires to be, operationally and … Continue reading Calibrating Checklists and Teams

Misconceptions about Brand Standards

Let's be completely frank. Are your franchisees, and sites fully in line with brand standards? A survey by the In-Store Implementation Network sought to quantify a facet of this issue, specifically merchandising, and asked retail professionals how they measure performance of in-store merchandising. Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed responded that they "make the assumption that … Continue reading Misconceptions about Brand Standards

staff high-fiving

6 Reasons to Measure Brand Standards

Brand standards span broad areas of a retail or hospitality network, including branding, customer service, product assortment, preferred vendors, merchandising, cleanliness, human resources, security, loss prevention and fire prevention. They govern how the business should be presented, how specific objectives should be completed and how programs should be implemented. Most customer-facing franchise-based groups, especially in … Continue reading 6 Reasons to Measure Brand Standards

The Cost of Merchandising Non-Compliance

It is often said that success in retail boils down to execution. How well do retailers execute today and what is the cost of merchandising execution non-compliance? We had the opportunity to discuss the current state of in-store execution with James Tenser, Director at the In-Store Implementation Network. Below are some of the key findings … Continue reading The Cost of Merchandising Non-Compliance

It is Time to Abandon Excel for Brand Standards

When we went paper less, we all assumed we'd magically become more efficient. Whiz-bang, look at us saving data! However, you can be just as inefficient with technology as you can without. Capturing data electronically does not, in and of itself, make it efficient. To make matters worse, multi-unit operators now collect more data about … Continue reading It is Time to Abandon Excel for Brand Standards