The beverage brand’s shift to a streamlined weekly signal system gives store operators actionable insights without the administrative paralysis of legacy spreadsheets.
This article first appeared in Hospitality Technology.
Fast-growing restaurant brands often believe they can solve operational hurdles by collecting more data. Unfortunately, data accumulation often transforms from an asset into an operational bottleneck.
At a recent National Restaurant Association Show educational session, technology leaders challenged the conventional wisdom of the “more is better” data philosophy. Jaclyn Nesemann, Business Intelligence Senior Manager at Black Rock Coffee Bar, and Mark Cohen, Solutions Architect at Restaurant365, outlined how the coffee chain broke through the noise to support its aggressive expansion toward 200 locations across the West Coast and Southwest.
As brands enter rapid growth phases, technology stacks frequently fracture. New applications are deployed to solve point-in-time problems, but without strict oversight, they create isolated data silos. Black Rock experienced this exact tension as it scaled past 190 units.
“The assumption is that more data will solve your problems, but that’s not the case. When you start collecting more data, things just become more complex. You realize that you’re not really solving the problem. In fact, nothing is getting better. It’s just creating more noise,” Nesemann said, reflecting on the challenges of managing disparate platforms.
Initially, Black Rock attempted to handle this operational sprawl by democratizing every available metric—a period Nesemann refers to as the brand’s “more phase.” The company built extensive report suites and loaded unit-level managers with comprehensive KPIs. Instead of optimizing the business, the deluge of data paralyzed store leaders who were already split between managing labor and serving guests.
“They already have so much to worry about. If you’re just adding more noise, more reports, more work for them, they’re not able to then thrive and do something with that information to run their business better,” Nesemann said. “It becomes pointless to them, and they start to kind of lose faith in it, stop following the processes and things go awry.”
Read the full article at Hospitality Technology.
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