Digital technology and data-driven decision making have dramatically changed how restaurants stay competitive or to survive. As food delivery and online reservation become more and more popular, restaurants can hardly operate without using digital and data technologies. With this in mind, RMDS Lab is announcing its next data science competition, Developing an Analytics Dashboard to Improve Restaurant Performance.This quarter’s contestants will be challenged with collecting important data sets and then creating an analytics dashboard that will help restaurants to boost their businesses and improve their overall performance. A grant of $1,000 will be awarded to the grand prize winner, and $500 will go to the runner up.

Everyone who registers for the competition will receive FREE admission to IM Data Conference, and contestants who complete and submit their project will receive a FREE, one-month premium membership to GRMDS platform as well as a certificate of completion.

Registrations:



Competitors will be challenged with finding good data to combine with the datasets provided to produce insights for the restaurant business. Through the process of data research, analysis, feature extraction and modelling, contestants should reach some solid and meaningful conclusions about improving restaurant performance. Based on various analyses, our contestants are expected to develop an analytical dashboard to showcase the business insights discovered in a way that is easily understood by restaurant decision makers and simple for them to implement to improve performance improvement.

We will develop a dashboard as an example that our contestants could take advantage of and continue with their own improvements. More specifically, contestants’ systems could allow restaurant owners to plug in their own data in order to see actionable insights, perhaps in the form of recommendations/projections for their establishment based on the contestant’s analysis.

Examples of analytical questions for competitors to explore may include:

  • Which day of the week or which hours of the day will be the busiest?
  • What factors influence restaurant customers and their purchases?
  • What aspects (food, service, price, and environment) are most valued by customers in each area?
  • What are the most important factors that contribute to customers’ review ratings?
  • What type of restaurants would customers prefer? (pick-up/delivery, dine-in)
  • What type of restaurants are facing the most serious competition in each area?
  • What’s the acceptable price level for different types of restaurants per location?
  • What keeps customers coming back?
  • How does a restaurant’s location determine its performance?

This competition will challenge competitors with collecting important datasets and creating a dashboard that restaurants can use to boost their revenue. It is free to enter, and winners will also be considered for internship positions. 

Important Dates

Registration begins Friday, August 27.
Datasets will be available on Friday, September 17
Completed projects will be due on Sunday, October 10
Competition winners will be announced on Thursday, October 28

All perspectives are welcome! Show us your most valuable insights from your innovative data analytics that could benefit the restaurant industry.