Our lives are impacted in an unprecedented way during the COVID-19 pandemic which includes the way we eat, drink, and even our living routines. For precautionary measures, The Australian government makes strict social distancing techniques to overcome the spread of coronavirus. It also has a huge impact on the dining on the premises of the restaurants. There was only permitted to close the restaurants or offer takeaway and home delivery services. In this article, we will discuss the Restaurant (small or medium size) Service Producers in Australia that should Redesign their Service Marketing Mix.
Introduction
The small and medium restaurant industry is an essential part of routine life in Australia. It provides ease to millions of people to enjoy outdoor dining and fast food. This industry also contributes millions of dollars to the economy of Australia, But due to the restrictions of social distancing, this is the worst industry that has to face significant financial losses.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of entrepreneurship has increased. This is because things have changed and there we are uncertain about the future. In this situation, there is a potential for creating a space for opportunities to fulfill the gap created by COVID-19 restrictions of social distancing by the government. On the other hand, it has also created limited boundaries for small and medium businesses to run their operations smoothly.
Global research has shown that there is a space for entrepreneurs to new venture creations. Due to the restriction on indoor and outdoor dining, it creates a market gap for delivery service marketing mix companies, like Uber Eats to facilitate more customers at their doorstep. It also needs the extensive use of technology to run these types of operations. Ultimately, it leads to higher workforce requirements for existing services as well as for new ventures.
On the other hand, it limits the operations of those restaurants that do not have the resource to set up their delivery service or take away points. Setting up the type of services will incur a cost that is not financially feasible for small and medium restaurants. There is also a threat of losing their customer who does not have access to restaurants’ online portals. In simple words, introducing the new technology will create an information gap that is costly to be filled.
Recent research also indicates the exceptional opportunities for entrepreneurs during the Pandemic. If small and medium restaurants adopt these new opportunities, definitely it will lead to hiring more people who are experts in their fields. It will also lead to a redesign of the operations process to balance the demand and supply in the market.
The Explanation of Service Marketing Mix
The objective of the market analysis is to find out the internal and external environmental factors through which they can make developments and make future strategies. The external environmental factors consist of those factors which are beyond the organization’s control, But these factors indicate the organizations make business strategies to shift their business environments into the market edge.
During the pandemic, the consumer food landscape has changed significantly in Australia. This is due to the strict implementation of social distancing prohibiting indoor restaurant dining by the government. Restaurants have only ways to serve food in takeaway or offering home delivery services. Some customers were curious about the food supply and preparation. There was a misconception that food packing can contain COVID-19. It might be possible that it was prepared by someone who was infected by the virus.
Later on, PMC stated that Food packaging was not the source of transmission of COVID-19. Small and medium restaurants in the Australian market have different opportunities during this pandemic. They can have more time to facilitate more customers. Even with fewer resources used through packaged food delivery or takeaways. They don’t have the fear to fill the restaurant sittings. They don’t have the restaurant’s overheads like electricity bills, maintenance costs, etc
Opportunities
It also has the opportunity to create a restaurant’s online presence. So the customer can find them online, see their menu items with prices, and order food from home. Restaurants’ online presence also enables customers to make a comparison between restaurants in terms of price, taste, service, and food serving through customer reviews and rating methods.
Restaurants also have the opportunity to target their customers easily by advertising online and an image of their services in the customer’s minds. It also provides an opportunity for small and medium restaurants’ workforces to come out of the box and think of something creative and innovative to make strategies and gain a competitive edge over their competitors.
One of the most competitive opportunities for restaurants in the Australian market is the technology enhancement during COVID-19. E-commerce platforms like websites, and mobile applications of restaurants can provide convenience to its consumers to save time and effort as compared to takeaways.
During the lockdown days, people are shifted towards extensive mobile usage to save themselves from coronavirus, particularly to order food and grocery items. Not only in a pandemic but previous studies also shows that people’s preferences are shifting towards the adoption of online mobile application in their daily routine life.
Before COVID-19, many large media restaurant chains adopted the latest technologies in the Australian market to better facilitate their customers, But some of them were unable to adopt the technology due to the lack of resources, etc. Small and medium restaurants in the Australian market also have threats along with the opportunities they have.
Threats
One of the major threats was the use of social media and other digital platforms, extensive marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages and alcohol was at its peak. They were portraying their unhealthy food and alcohol brands funnily and harmlessly. It was very difficult for a small and medium restaurant business to stay highlighted amount the others with clearing indicating the positive and healthy food providing an image towards its consumers.
The second threat for small and medium restaurants was the lack of expertise in using extensive technology to run their restaurant routine operations. For this purpose, they have to hire a specialized workforce to manage online operations. Ultimately, a huge amount of cost has to bear by the restaurants in the start. It will be greatly difficult for small and medium restaurants to adopt the technology and bear the financial burden.
To sustain in the competitive market through taking advantage of opportunities and trying to get control over the threats. There is a need to redesign the service marketing mix (People, Process, and physical evidence) of small and medium restaurants in the Australian market.
People
People are the most significant part of the service marketing mix. It defines the service. People mean humans who perform different jobs in restaurants like managers, sales, representatives, chefs, marketers, etc. They perform a very important character in customer dealing, performing quality control activities, and personal selling in the restaurant industry. Studies show that people training and development practices at the workplace play a significant role in their performance.
In the context of the COVID-19 situation, small and medium restaurants should train their employees to better facilitate the customer. There is no doubt, that a restaurant is known for its food quality, it is also known for its customer service behavior. In this situation, your workforce of restaurants deals with customers online and in food delivery systems. It becomes much more difficult to portray a positive image in the customer’s mind. For this purpose, they have to train their employees accordingly. It ultimately leads to higher training costs.
The Process of Service Marketing mix
The process is how a specific task is performed. In the restaurant industry, the service marketing mix team should align the procedures, mechanisms, activities, routines, and schedules. This is because; often customers do not differentiate between the process and the product during going through the service delivery system. For example, if a customer has to wait for an undue period to get the service, he will be dissatisfied even if he got the required service.
There should be a clear indication about the process of delivering food or about takeaway. So that customers can understand the process of getting food. These actions will provide confidence and satisfaction to the customer and ultimately gains their loyalty. Creating a clear image in customer mind for small and medium restaurants become hard due to a lack of resources and technology. To overcome this issue they should redesign their marketing strategy according to avoid customer loss during the Pandemic periods.
Physical Evidence of Service Marketing mix
Physical evidence can be described as associations attached with the customer with the product. As in the case of the restaurant industry, there is a little role in the tangibility of food’s appearance, packaging, etc, But food quality, quantity, and taste have a huge impact on customer perception. They become loyal to the taste and quality
In this scenario, there is a huge advantage for small and medium restaurants to create a superior image by providing them the delicious taste and excellent quality to survive in the market during a pandemic. Apart from all these customers also remember the tangibility of provided services like packing of food, delivery service, ordering lead-time, etc.
Conclusion
In conclusion, on one side of COVID-19 has created an opportunity for small and medium restaurants in the Australian market. There are also created threats as well. If we look at the positive side, we can say that the small and medium restaurant industry has the opportunity to gain a larger market share than before. It can enhance their enrichment to a customer located in a wide area.
They can also gain customers’ loyalty and satisfaction by customizing the service marketing mix, according to their customer’s demands. They also have a chance to adopt new technologies and automated processes to reduce their variable costs. This measure will also provide the opportunity to give a positive perception from a customer’s point of view.
As long as it has opportunities for small and medium restaurants, it also has threats. They have fewer financial resources to cope with the issue created by COVID-19. They are unable to spend too much money to train their workforce. It also becomes difficult for them to change the process and physical evidence measures to gain more customers and provide services efficiently and effectively.
However, the restaurant industry has the option to approach the public health official to disseminate unambiguous information to the public about food safety standards, and food quality assurance during the pandemic.