PizzaExpress improves efficiencies and savings with Qlik Cloud

PizzaExpress first deployed Qlik in 2018, providing its teams with a holistic overview of restaurant data. This included datasets for sales, inventory and labour, making Qlik a central repository for analysis and reporting.

PizzaExpress wanted to expand and move to advanced and interactive analytics to put real-time data into the hands of employees at every restaurant across the UK through mobile devices. Additionally the company wanted to establish a single version of the truth to enable decisions in the business moment. To achieve this goal, PizzaExpress has transitioned to analytics through Qlik’s hosted and managed cloud infrastructure, which enables it to centralise data management and distribution, ensuring that the right data is in the right people's hands at the right time.

With access to real-time, exact insights, employees are equipped with accurate, relevant data that enables them to take informed actions, such as when forecasting product demand, allowing them to make accurate purchasing choices that minimise food waste.

“We required a robust, all-encompassing data platform that we could implement across all our restaurants,” says Dan Williams, Business Intelligence Manager at PizzaExpress. “We also needed a solution with strong infrastructure around it. We’re already seeing the benefits of Qlik in our operations team, with annual savings and efficiencies. We’re looking forward to rolling it out across the wider business to provide all employees with access to real-time data.”

Ometis, the UK's largest Qlik consultancy, developed a proof of concept which demonstrated the impact Qlik solutions could provide in improving business outcomes for PizzaExpress. After a successful six-month trial period with the PizzaExpress operations team, Qlik Cloud will be launched to all restaurant managers from July, including a near-real time set of dashboards to use for competitions and upselling.

“Each restaurant has an iPad that is connected to Qlik. Managers will be the most frequent users of the tool and the dashboards, but each team member will also be able to check sales targets. We've kept the layout as simple as possible for our restaurant employees to use at any time to encourage user adoption and raise the levels of data literacy. Our priority first is to get all store managers trained up, which will enable them to eventually impart their knowledge of the platform onto the wider team,” added Williams.

“We are very pleased to be supporting PizzaExpress on its journey towards Active Intelligence, where real-time data not only underpins decisions, but helps everyone in the organization to be able to take informed actions in the business moment for improved processes and greater value,” says Adam Mayer, Senior Manager at Qlik. “During a period of ongoing change in the hospitality industry, data has been instrumental in enabling organisations like PizzaExpress to understand and react to unexpected events. The deployment of Qlik Cloud will enable PizzaExpress to shift from operating in a passive to an ‘Active’ environment, with real-time insights directly in restaurant teams’ hands to make informed decisions that enable even greater outcomes.”