How Melting Pot Leverages Technology to Elevate Franchisees Above Their Competitors

In the ever-evolving restaurant landscape, Melting Pot, the 93-unit fondue franchise, has supported franchisees in standing out and staying ahead of the curve with the help of integrated technology to streamline operations, create a better guest experience and offer franchisees more robust data.

“One of the things that we’ve worked really hard to do is get unified systems within our restaurants,” explained Randy Barnett, vice president of technology. “That includes point of sale, reservation systems and security platforms. In addition to those foundational platforms, we built out a really nice data warehouse that allows us to deliver some best-in-class analytics for business intelligence.”

For an experiential dining concept focused on providing a perfect experience every time, it is crucial that franchisees are able to understand and cater to their guests. Melting Pot has built data stories that allow franchisees to look at frequency, recency and monetary segments to analyze guest patterns. Similarly, Melting Pot has access to data regarding unmet demand, meaning the team can understand how many reservations are requested above the restaurant’s capacity in a given night or sales period. 

The brand has also implemented handheld devices that allow restaurant-level team members to be more flexible and efficient throughout the ordering and payment processes, creating a mix of technology-forward solutions and the personable service Melting Pot patrons are used to.

With these resources, the entire team can come together to look at higher-level trends and make small adjustments that drive more business to each restaurant. This benefits established owners and their teams throughout all stages of restaurant development, but it is an especially powerful support structure for new owners working to understand their restaurant and get acquainted with team members throughout the system early on.

Barnett emphasized that having continuity across platforms solves a major pain point that some restaurant owners experience, and Melting Pot’s ability to establish a streamlined technology support structure allows franchisees to easily view the information they need, alleviating any need to move between platforms.

Powerful Partnerships Obtained Through an Industry Giant

“When we leverage unified systems, we get the benefit of a partnership with powerful technology companies that franchisees might not otherwise be able to get without the power of a brand of our size and maturity,” added Barnett.

Because Melting Pot has grown to the size and maturity it enjoys today, its adoption of technology is even more impressive. The brand has found an ideal balance between leveraging its rich history, taking advantage of the systems it has perfected over the decades and embracing new innovations. With this, franchisees gain access to the power and popularity associated with the Melting Pot name but are not locked into a business model that refuses to adapt.

“Service leadership is nothing new to the restaurant industry, but we’ve put in place the technology that helps the business all the way from the day-to-day team member to the owner,” said Barnett. “This allows them to focus more on the philosophy and deliver the perfect night out. We give them systems that are easy to use and simple to understand, like our POS system, and that gives the franchisees the business intelligence data they need to be successful long-term.”

Through all of its technology-related developments, Melting Pot keeps the guest experience top of mind. The technology team at the Restaurant Support Center (RSC) partners with other business units like the marketing and operations teams “better than most other concepts that I’ve seen,” added Barnett, and this synergy creates strong solutions that flow through all levels of the system.

With strong RSC collaboration, the franchisor can support local franchisees in securing all of the tools, data and support they need to lead a happy, productive team, which ultimately leads to a satisfied guest.

“In every scenario, we have thought about the solution with the guest in mind,” said Barnett.

In All Stages, Melting Pot’s Technology Strategy Puts Franchisees and Guests First

While Melting Pot currently offers a franchisee-focused and guest-focus technology strategy, creating great results at the restaurant level each day, Barnett said the team will continue to shift and evolve as the demands of the business grow and more technology becomes available.

“The biggest point to remember is that technology changes rapidly. We’re already looking at AI for a number of things, and we’re diving into guest analytics more than we ever have,” he explained. “Access to data is more prevalent today than it was 20 years ago, and we can get virtually any information we need through different points of view and touch points.”

With touch points and data processing tools available today that were unheard of decades ago, Melting Pot has adapted over time, taking advantage of new tools to better support franchisees and their guests as the resources become available. 

Looking to the future, Barnett said he expects even more tools to roll out, opening up the ability to look at seat optimization and dynamic pricing, for example, as the brand scales. The leadership team’s commitment to new, effective technology is clear, and it will continue to drive the brand toward success as it grows nationwide.

“We know that the business owner really wants to only focus on their investment, so we take away the pressure points of having to build out a technology platform for themselves,” said Barnett. “Everything we do within our brand is based on that family feel and instinct; we never want to create friction. We ensure all of the technology we implement really works well and doesn’t get in the way of the team or guests but enhances the entire experience.”

For more information, visit https://www.meltingpotfranchise.com/.