Competitive Analysis Form
SHA507: Foodservice Management: Menu PLanning and Marketing & Merchandising Strategies School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University
Competitive Analysis Form
Restaurant name and classification:
Meal and period or day-part:
Market segment:
I.
List the most important features (needs)—for example, location, price, space, service, and quality—sought by a customer in this market segment. Determine this by customer surveys and market research. List these features from most important to least important. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
II.
Identify which restaurants are your major competitors for this market segment and meal period by asking your customers where else they go. List their responses in order of frequency. A. B. C. D.
© 2015 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners.
SHA507: Foodservice Management: Menu PLanning and Marketing & Merchandising Strategies School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University Research the current communications mix (advertising, promotions, merchandising, and so on) of these competitors to determine which features they are promoting to the market. Compare what they are currently promoting to what you are promoting. Features: Competitor A: Competitor B: Competitor C: Competitor D: Your operation: Do the features being promoted speak to the market segment's prioritized list of needs in Section I above? IV. Using the prioritized list of features generated in Section I above, compare your restaurant against each of the major competitors on each feature. Use (+) if your operation is better on a feature than a competitor; use (=) if your operation is the same on a feature as the competitor; and use (-) if your operation is not as good on a feature as a competitor. It is very important to be objective on these comparisons. Competitors Features
A
B
C
D
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. V.
The comparison above will identify the strengths and weaknesses of your operation on each of the important features for the market segment selected. Obviously, your strengths should be exploited and emphasized in your marketing efforts: they are the reasons why the customer should patronize your establishment rather than the competition. If there are no clear strengths to promote, it is time either to develop some, or to focus on a different market segment.
© 2015 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners.
Competitive Analysis Form
Restaurant name and classification:
Meal and period or day-part:
Market segment:
I.
List the most important features (needs)—for example, location, price, space, service, and quality—sought by a customer in this market segment. Determine this by customer surveys and market research. List these features from most important to least important. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
II.
Identify which restaurants are your major competitors for this market segment and meal period by asking your customers where else they go. List their responses in order of frequency. A. B. C. D.
© 2015 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners.
SHA507: Foodservice Management: Menu PLanning and Marketing & Merchandising Strategies School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University Research the current communications mix (advertising, promotions, merchandising, and so on) of these competitors to determine which features they are promoting to the market. Compare what they are currently promoting to what you are promoting. Features: Competitor A: Competitor B: Competitor C: Competitor D: Your operation: Do the features being promoted speak to the market segment's prioritized list of needs in Section I above? IV. Using the prioritized list of features generated in Section I above, compare your restaurant against each of the major competitors on each feature. Use (+) if your operation is better on a feature than a competitor; use (=) if your operation is the same on a feature as the competitor; and use (-) if your operation is not as good on a feature as a competitor. It is very important to be objective on these comparisons. Competitors Features
A
B
C
D
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. V.
The comparison above will identify the strengths and weaknesses of your operation on each of the important features for the market segment selected. Obviously, your strengths should be exploited and emphasized in your marketing efforts: they are the reasons why the customer should patronize your establishment rather than the competition. If there are no clear strengths to promote, it is time either to develop some, or to focus on a different market segment.
© 2015 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners.
