Be Guest Centric: Shake Shack's Art of Merging Hospitality with Digital Integration

The Digital Restaurant

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In this episode of The Digital Restaurant podcast, we're excited to share our conversation with Steph So, the Head of Digital at Shake Shack. With a rich background in e-commerce spanning across various industries, Steph brings a unique perspective to the fast casual dining scene. Shake Shack, a leader in innovation within the restaurant space, has been a trailblazer in integrating hospitality into the fast casual setting.

Steph discusses the brand's focus on creating an "enlightened experience" for guests, whether they're ordering from a kiosk, through the app, or in person. A remarkable 57% of Shake Shack's Q1 2023 sales were digital, a testament to the success of their digital strategy. Steph emphasizes the importance of removing friction from the digital experience, ensuring that it's intuitive and quick, yet still maintains a personal touch.
The conversation then delves into the concept of digital hospitality and the balancing act between automation and human interaction. Steph shares insights on how automation has enhanced the role of team members, allowing them to focus more on guest experiences rather than just transactional duties.
Another critical aspect discussed is the omnichannel approach of Shake Shack. Understanding that guests have different preferences, Shake Shack aims to provide a consistent, high-quality experience across all channels, whether it's in-store, via the app, or through delivery.
Loyalty and guest centricity are also key themes. Steph talks about Shake Shack’s approach to loyalty programs, focusing more on offering experiences rather than just discounts. She highlights the importance of personalizing guest interactions and how they use data to tailor experiences, driving both loyalty and frequency.
Finally, Steph touches on the backend operations, explaining how they integrate various digital ordering systems to maintain accuracy and efficiency. This insightful episode provides a comprehensive look at how Shake Shack is navigating the digital transformation in the restaurant industry, setting new standards for guest experiences in fast casual dining.
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1. Be Guest Centric: Shake Shack's Art of Merging Hospitality with Digital Integration (00:00:00)

2. Fast Casual Hospitality (00:01:45)

3. Digital Hospitality with 57% digital transactions (00:02:39)

4. How automation helps employees improve guest service (00:04:04)

5. Helping guests engage with digital (00:05:17)

6. The lack of pressure from kiosk ordering (00:06:43)

7. The Omni-Channel Guest (00:07:37)

8. Seeing the guest profile in a 360 way (00:10:10)

9. Loyalty's role in guest centricity (00:11:06)

10. Earn & Burn Loyalty is just discounting your most loyal guests (00:12:14)

11. Managing the balance of outbound communications to guests (00:15:04)

12. Value of app vs mobile web or SMS (00:17:02)

13. Knitting data together to enrich the fulfilment experience (00:17:59)

14. Proactive Human Chat and its role in service recovery (00:19:54)

15. The need for CRM's and CDP's (00:21:10)