Globally, the quick service restaurant industry generates a revenue of over $570 billion – which is bigger than the economic value of most countries.
Fast casual restaurants, along with fast food restaurants, make up a segment of the restaurant industry know as Quick Service Restaurant (QSR). The global quick service restaurant industry is driven by positive macroeconomic factors such as population growth and rising incomes. Additionally, the rising preference for better dining experiences and more convenient dining occasions has impacted quick service restaurant’s strategies. As a result, quick service restaurant operators are adopting menu offerings that are cleaner, simpler, and offer higher levels of transparency in food preparation and sourcing.
Furthermore, several factors are influencing the growth of the quick service restaurant industry. A few factors include:
- The emergence of digital technology: Food delivery has benefited from consumer preferences for more convenient dining occasions. Today, digital technology is enabling more restaurants to tap into this lucrative channel and offer consumers with better options.
- Rising middle-class population: Access to higher disposable income is a chief driver of spend in the food service space. As the middle class swells in developing markets, the consumers have increased access to disposable income, which, in turn, is driving the growth.
Many such factors are compelling players in the quick service restaurant industry to leverage the use of competitive intelligence solutions. 
Competitive intelligence solutions help firms gather, analyze, and manage market information to make strategic and informed business decisions. Additionally, these solutions help organizations profile the competitors and boost their competitiveness in the market.
The Business Challenge
- The Client: Quick service restaurant company
The client, a quick service restaurant company with branches spread across the globe, wanted to collect data on the products, services, pricing models, and identify the unique selling propositions. The client also wanted to compile information of the competitors in terms of their key facts, history, product and service offerings, and business objectives. This would help them optimize their business process and strategies by comparing them with that of their competitors.
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Our Journey
The competitive intelligence experts at Infiniti followed an extensive research methodology comprising interviews and discussions with prominent stakeholders in the quick service restaurant space to provide the client with detailed insights into the competitors’ value proposition. Additionally, the experts also compiled information from reliable sources such as trade shows, industry forums, and company presentations to help the client evaluate the performance of their competitors.
The Solution Benefit and the Business Impact
With the help of Infiniti’s competitive intelligence solution, the quick service restaurant client was able to identify the top competitors and continuously monitor their activities. The engagement also helped the client evaluate the key performance indicators and effectively analyze their marketing resources to meet the business requirements. Furthermore, the client was able to enhance their marketing efforts to launch new products and services in the market.
The Future
Technology is set to play a huge role in the future of the quick service restaurant industry, possibly minimizing the need for human interaction or even cutting out servers and cashiers completely. But it also means an opportunity for growth, especially for companies looking to establish themselves in the industry.
A must-read case study for strategy specialists and decision makers looking to develop an understanding of the quick service restaurant industry.
