Fast Casual Executive Summit
Top restaurant leaders will share insight on how to leverage data analytics and loyalty programs to deliver personalized experiences at the upcoming Fast Casual Executive Summit.
Image: Willie Lawless, Networld Media Group
June 23, 2025 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
It’s no secret that data and data management is a required strategy for a successful restaurant operation — whether it’s data about the customer, data about kitchen management or data related to marketing.
Data simply is the engine behind everything in the foodservice environment and a critical strategy when it comes to driving a rewarding customer experience and personalizing the guest experience.
Just how to do all that is the focus of a panel at the upcoming Fast Casual Executive Summit being held in Austin, Texas, from Oct. 5-7.
The panel talk, “Data-Driven Delight: Personalizing the Guest Experience,” is sponsored by Restroworks.
Participants include Jim Bitticks, president and chief operating officer at Dave’s Hot, John Dillon, president of la Madeleine, Geoff Henry, president of the Americas for Gong cha Global and Jason Ingermanson, president and founder of JRI Hospitality.
Ashish Tulsian, co-founder and CEO of Restroworks, is moderating the session.
The Fast Casual Executive Summit is owned by Networld Media Group, publishers of Fastcasual.com, QSRweb and Pizza Marketplace. The company’s next event is the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit which will take place March 16-18, 2026 in San Diego, California.
Experts share first steps
The one-hour panel talk will focus on how to leverage data analytics and loyalty programs to deliver personalized experiences — from collecting and analyzing to designing a loyalty program that incentivizes customer engagement.
A good starting point for enterprises just getting started with data collection for personalization, according to Bitticks, is to begin looking at the natural touch points a restaurant already has in place with guests — POS, online ordering, loyalty program and even the reservation tool being used.
“At Dave’s, we centralize guest data using a customer data platform like Bikky, integrated with our loyalty program. This combination gives us a high-level overview of our guests and their preferences,” Bitticks said in an email interview.
The brand was able to segment based on behaviors such as spice preference, frequently ordered items and even frequency.
“With these insights, we can determine how new items are performing and how to elicit certain guest behaviors. As a brand, we are very strategic with how we leverage rewards and promotions, and these platforms allow us to gain meaningful insights to tailor smarter offers that are relevant and on-brand,” said Bitticks.
He recommends starting with high-impact rewards as that can build a more connected, data-driven guest experience which in turn drives loyalty and overall lifetime value.
“It’s a good idea to track what’s working — like how many people are coming back because of a personalized email or how much they’re spending after receiving a special offer — so you can prove ROI as you go.”
Henry recommends first defining how the brand wants to personalize the guest experience.
“Are you looking to have personalized communications? Targeted promotions and offers? Or menu recommendations based on order history,” he said in an email interview.
“If you already have the tools, then it’s about segmenting your guests based on various behaviors. If you lack some of the tools, you may need to invest in more robust first party systems, like loyalty or POS platforms, or initiate new processes, like guest surveys.”
Managing all the data
The biggest challenge with data collection and conducting analysis is management. It often becomes overwhelming in fast fashion and ultimately torpedoes many strategies that are critical to restaurant growth and success.
The situation is especially true for restaurant brands juggling multiple systems and priorities, according to Bitticks.
“But the key is to approach data management like building a kitchen: you don’t need every appliance on day one — you just need the essentials to start cooking well,” he said.
Brands need to start by being intentional about what data matters most, he advised.
“Don’t try to collect everything. Instead, focus on data that ties directly to your goals — like increasing repeat visits, improving order accuracy, or boosting loyalty. That means capturing clean, consistent data from just a few core systems: your POS, loyalty program, and online ordering platform. These usually give you 70%–80% of the insights you need to begin making smarter decisions,” said Bitticks.
The next step is jumping on what Bitticks called “data hygiene” from the start of a data collection strategy.
“Make sure customer profiles aren’t duplicated, and define consistent fields (e.g., “pickup” vs. “takeout”). It’s much easier to organize your data as you go than clean it up later,” he said.
Bitticks advises brands to avoid the trap of ‘buying the big tool,’ before they’re ready.
“Instead, choose flexible platforms that integrate well and let you grow over time. Many brands try to do everything at once, but success comes from layering slowly —collect, clean, connect, then act,” he said.
It’s also all about making data useful and not just stored, he noted.
“That means regularly pulling reports, sharing insights across teams, and using dashboards that surface what’s actionable” not just what’s measurable, said Bitticks. “In short: start small, be consistent, and always tie your data back to a customer or business goal. When in doubt, ask: ‘What decision will this data help us make?’ If you can’t answer that, it’s probably not worth tracking yet.”
Henry’s advice for data collection and management is to start small and get some easy wins.
“I tend to focus on POS data (for purchase history of items and amounts), loyalty date (for frequency), as well as digital platform ordering” for behavioral trends,” he said.
“And sometimes it’s best to have a designated ‘owner,’ like a business analyst, who can champion a process for the broader team. That individual can share broadly key insights and help create action plans for the organization.”
Click here to register for the Fast Casual Executive Summit.
