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Franchise Supplier to Know: Merchant Centric
Merchant Centric’s co-founders explain how the brand’s unique approach to data analytics helps franchisors and franchisees increase their revenues.
In today’s technology-driven society, franchisors and franchisees know that they need to collect as much data that relates back to their digital footprint as they possibly can in order to better understand which practices they should continue in the future and which ideas are a waste of time and money. But considering how much information is actually out there, it can be tough for brands to figure out what data deserves the most attention. That’s where Merchant Centric comes in.
Merchant Centric, which was originally founded in 2013, is a brand built on helping franchisors and franchisees increase their revenues. It does this by turning data analytics into actionable business plans. But the brand doesn’t simply collect data and throw it back to its clients—Merchant Centric analyzes consumer and competitor reviews to determine which ones most significantly impact revenue.
So far, this approach has proven itself to be successful. Merchant Centric has built up a database of more than 24 million business locations and over 340 million ratings and reviews, and the brand isn’t planning on slowing down any time soon.
1851 Franchise recently spoke to Merchant Centric’s founders, David Bay and Adam Leff, to find out more about the brand’s efforts to help the franchising industry be profitable.
How is Merchant Centric’s approach unique?
Leff: There is a big distinction in what we do. There are tons of companies that say they’re experts in the field of business analytics, but they’re only paying attention to what data is the loudest. At Merchant Centric, our focus is on the data that is the most meaningful. We are combining our clients’ business revenue data with their social data in order to determine what actions are actually impacting revenue.
Bay: Merchant Centric is unique because of the approach and methods we take. We’re doing the right work in order to help our clients reach the right conclusions. That means going behind the scenes and diving into the complex business of data and analytics in order to figure out what is going to impact a brand’s revenue. We tell franchisors and franchisees what exactly they need to do in order to see a bigger bottom line.
What is Merchant Centric’s most popular service?
Leff: Our STARS platform is incredibly popular among our clients. The platform gives brands an overview of their entire business enterprise, whether it’s a single franchisee or franchisor with multiple locations across different territories. STARS allows them to slice and dice data however they want. For example, brands can compare their locations with drive thrus against other units without that feature in order to see if there’s a difference in revenues. They can also compare their reviews to those of their competitors to ensure they remain on top.
Bay: The STARS platform also gives brands the opportunity to get instant answers to questions. Say a brand wants to know if consumers think their coffee is burnt—they can tap into our extensive database to see 10,000 customer reviews related to their coffee products at once.
What do franchisors and franchisees need to know about what’s happening with Merchant Centric now?
Leff: Business performance analytics is one of the more recent breakthroughs in the franchising industry. This is where Merchant Centric stands out. Combining analysis with revenues enables brands to identify specific actions they need to take in order to be more profitable. The field is evolving quickly, and brands need to be paying attention—both to their analytics and the analytics of their competitors. That’s why we’re updating our database every day and continuously making sure our analysis capability is ingrained in our DNA.
Bay: We first started Merchant Centric a few years ago before business performance analytics were really on the scene. But our mission has always been the same—we want to help local businesses increase their revenue, which ultimately allows brands to raise their revenue on the corporate level as well. We’ve proven that there’s a direct correlation between consumer ratings and revenue, so it’s our job to give brands the tools they need to turn that information into something they can actually leverage to be more successful.
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