BLUE ROCK BAR & GRILL

2010 Boise Ave.

Boise, ID 83706
(208) 555-2010

Memorandum
Date:

June 28, 2010

To:

Michael Markley, Owner

From:

Alyce Rollins, Manager

Travis Smith, Head Chef
Veni Rea, Head Server
Christen Sapnas, Maitre d

Subject:

Completion Report for Feasibility Study on Creating a Company Website for

Blue Rock Bar & Grill

We have attached our completion report for our feasibility study on creating a company
website for Blue Rock Bar & Grill. We completed the tasks described in our proposal to you
from April 18, 2010: to study whether creating a company website would increase
customer satisfaction and company revenue in a cost effective manner.
First, we researched other restaurant websites to determine what features and services we
could offer. Next we created and distributed a questionnaire to survey our customers. Then
we compiled the data from the questionnaires to verify the demand for a website and
identified what features customers find most useful to be offered on a restaurant website.
Based on the information we gathered and reviewed, we recommend the creation of a
company web page for Blue Rock Bar & Grill. The website should include the features and
services deemed useful from our customer surveys. Also, we recommend that the
restaurant begin a pilot program for take-out ordering which can be integrated in the
website after the new service is in place.
We appreciate the opportunity to research this option to improve customer service and
increase profits for Blue Rock Bar & Grill. We look forward to working on additional
dynamic projects to develop and grow our business in the future. If you have any questions
or comments, please contact any member of our research team.

Feasibility Study on Creating a Company Website:

A Completion Report

Prepared for:

Michael Markley, Owner

Prepared by:

Alyce Rollins, Manager

Travis Smith, Head Chef
Veni Rea, Head Server
Christen Sapnas, Maitre d
June 28, 2010

BLUE ROCK BAR & GRILL

2010 Boise Ave.
Boise, ID 83706
(208) 555-2010

Abstract

Feasibility Study on Creating a Company Website:

A Completion Report
Prepared by:

Alyce Rollins, Manager

Travis Smith, Head Chef
Veni Rea, Head Server
Christen Sapnas, Maitre d

Beginning in May 2010 and ending in late June, research was performed to evaluate the
success of website for Blue Rock Bar and Grill. The research had two main objectives: to
determine if a website would be used among our current customers and also to determine
if this website would increase our exposure to potential customers. We have researched
other websites and created a questionnaire that was completed by our current customers.
Of the 200 questionnaires distributed we were able to get feedback from 180 customers.
We asked them several different questions on the likelihood of using online menus, online
reservations, take-out, specials and coupons, nutrition information, maps and directions,
customer reviews, and photos of staff and restaurant. Based on our research, it would be
beneficial for Blue Rock Bar and Grill to open a website for our customers.
Keywords: restaurant, dining, convenience, bar, grill, menu

ii

Table of Contents
Executive Summary .............................................................................................. 1
Introduction .......................................................................................................... 2
Research Methods ................................................................................................ 3
Results .................................................................................................................. 4
1.

Online Menus ..................................................................................................... 4

2.

Online Reservations ........................................................................................... 4

3.

Take-Out Ordering ............................................................................................. 5

4.

Customer Ranking: Most Useful Features ......................................................... 6

Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 7
Recommendation .................................................................................................. 8
References ............................................................................................................ 9
Appendix: Guest Questionnaire.......................................................................... 10

List of Illustrations
Figures
Figure 1.

Customer Responses: Online Menus .............................................................. 4

Figure 2.

Customer Responses: Online Reservations .................................................... 5

Figure 3.

Customer Responses: Take-Out Ordering ...................................................... 5

Figure 4.

Customer Ranking: Most Useful Features ....................................................... 6

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Executive Summary
Blue Rock Bar and Grill is a local Boise restaurant that has been well established in the
community for several years. We pride ourselves on our ability to provide casual and
comfortable dining for families in and around the Boise area.
In this technologically advancing world, we feel that we are missing business opportunities
from potential internet customers, as well as neglecting to offer convenience to our current
customers. We feel that in order to continue our success as a Boise favorite, we need to stay
ahead of the competition from other website-offering establishments. We fear that by not
creating a website for our restaurant we may lose business as families decide to Google
local establishments to determine a place to dine.
We have performed research to evaluate the level of success that a website would offer.
This research has evaluated our current customers opinions by survey, which showed that
over half of our customers would use a website. We have researched other restaurants
websites to determine the information that we should include on our site.
After analyzing our data, we recommend that we start a webpage for Blue Rock Bar and
Grill. The research has shown that over half of our customers would use our website, and it
would increase new customers to explore our restaurant online. This website would be
highly beneficial at a relatively low cost. After creating the webpage, the cost of
maintenance is very low, and could be ran and updated by our management team. This
website would keep Blue Rock Bar and Grill as a leader in the Boise area by staying ahead
of the competition.

Introduction
Beginning May 2010, and ending in late June the management team has researched the
level of success of having a restaurant website. We focused on surveys from our current
customers as well as data from other restaurant websites. The purpose of this report is to
demonstrate the massive benefits of having a website for Blue Rock Bar and Grill.
Over the past two months the management team has compiled the following data from
several sources to reach a conclusion. We began by researching other websites to
determine what information on the webpage would be important to us. We then took that
information and created questionnaires that we distributed to our current customers in the
form of a survey. The survey was four questions that asked about online menus, online
reservations, take-out services, and overall convenience. We distributed 200
questionnaires, and received 180 completed forms. The data has been analyzed and
organized into a spreadsheet for comparison.
This report contains the information on the potential of success that a website for Blue
Rock Bar and Grill would have. Unfortunately, this report does not cover the cost of having
a website created, or the cost to create a site ourselves. This report also does not cover the
cost of maintenance and updating, however those duties could be performed by our
management team.
The management team recommends creating a website to expand our opportunities. In the
following pages you will find our methods of performing our research, the results of that
research, and our conclusions and recommendations that are based on this decision.

Research Methods
To determine whether upper management should allocate more funds for the creation of a
website and if the creation of a website could boost revenue and increase customer
satisfaction, we performed the following research:
1. We researched other restaurant websites to gain insight on what features and designs
would be successful for a company website. We evaluated features like online menus
(Applebee's IP LLC, 2010), take-out ordering (OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC, 2010), and
new specials (T.G.I. Friday's Inc., 2010). The information that we collected was used to
draft survey questions on what customers would find interesting and useful in a
website.
2. We created a short questionnaire form to distribute to our customers to gain insight on
what they found beneficial in a restaurant website, and whether or not they would use a
website that we create. The questionnaire contained the features that we researched in
our first task and a ranking system so our patrons could tell us what would be most
useful in the website. A sample questionnaire is shown in the Appendix on page 10.
3. We distributed the questionnaires to our patrons using the serving staff. The form was
included with the check at the end of every meal and patrons were asked to voluntarily
respond to the questions. We collected data for two weeks which gave us a good sample
of our customer base.
4. We analyzed the data that we obtained from the questionnaires and compiled a
spreadsheet so that the data could be easily compared. Of the 200 forms that we
distributed, we received 180 completed forms after the two week period. We have
shown the responses on the questionnaire in the Appendix on page 10.
5. We identified the information that would be beneficial in a company website from the
questionnaire responses. About half of the customers would check the menu online
before visiting the restaurant, and almost three-quarters of the customers would order
take-out orders online. The top three features that customers would find most useful
when looking at the restaurants website were: (1) Customer Reviews, (2) Online Takeout ordering, and (3) Specials and Coupons.
6. Finally we evaluated all of our findings to formulate a recommendation.

Results
In this section, we present the results of our research. By researching other restaurant
websites, we were able to draft out a simple customer survey. Our simple and effective
questionnaire forms gathered extensive customer data. This data allowed us to examine
the effectiveness of creating a company web site. The following results show the customers
responses and correspond to the Research Methods section.
1. Online Menus
After researching multiple restaurant websites, we found nearly all of them presented
customers with online menus. Wanting to know if Blue Rock Bar & Grill should provide this
information, we asked our guests how often they check the availability of menus online
before dining out (see Figure 1 below).
Never
5%
20%
Rarely

45%
Always

Frequently
30%

Figure 1. Responses from customers to survey question: Do you check online for
menus of restaurants before you visit them?

Because 75% of our guests responded that they either Frequently or Always look for
menus online, we can consider this to be an important feature customers expect. This
response was anticipated by our research of other restaurants websites also.
With this being a broad question in general and not able to predict the results, we also
incorporated more specific questions that could be applied at the Blue Rock Bar & Grill.
This allowed us to gather specific data for the potential of business gain and growth in
additional ways through the creation of website.
2. Online Reservations
The fast moving pace of society is moving towards the newest and greatest. With our great
customer service and fine foods, our restaurant has seen explosive customer growth. The
growth, while good, has now resulted in long guest lines, often out the door, waiting for

5
reservations. To see if we could expedite the reservation process, we asked our customers
if they would use online reservations if it was available to them (see Figure 2 below).

45%
No

Yes
55%

Figure 2. Responses from customers to survey question: Would you make your
reservations online with us if that was available to you?

This question provided us data to see that we could expedite our customer service
experience while providing great food and drinks since 55% of respondents would take
advantage of online reservations.
3. Take-Out Ordering
Presented with the problem of long reservation lines, we found that most other online
restaurant services are providing guests with the option of take-out ordering on their
website. Currently Blue Rock Bar & Grill provides no form of take-out services. We asked
our customers if they would use an online take-out service so we could determine whether
this is a necessary option to consider (see Figure 3 below).

25%
No
Yes
75%

Figure 3. Responses from customers to survey question: Would you order take-out
with our online services?

Considering we do not offer any form of take-out ordering at this time, this question
provided us with surprising data that 75% of our guests would order take-out using an

6
online service. Even if we dont offer online take-out ordering we need to consider offering
take-out services for our customers. Currently that form of their business is going
elsewhere and we could increase profits and customer retention if we addressed this
demand.
4. Customer Ranking: Most Useful Features
In addition to Online Menus, Online Reservations, and Take-Out Ordering we compiled a
list of features on other restaurant websites such as Specials & Coupons, Customer
Reviews, and Directions. These features would be easy to make available in addition to
providing new services like Reservations and Take-out Ordering.
In addition to the multiple-choice questions, we included this list of features we could offer
for our patrons to rate in order of importance:

Dining Menus
Specials & Coupons
Online Take-out Ordering
Online Reservations
Nutrition Information
Map & Directions
Photos of Staff & Restaurant
Customer Reviews

The chart (see Figure 1 below) shows what our guests find most useful when they visit
restaurant web pages.
Customer Reviews
Online Take-Out Ordering
Specials & Coupons
Map & Directions
Dining Menus
Online Reservations
Nutrition Info

Photos of Staff & Restaurant

1

Ranking from Most Useful to Least Useful

Figure 4. Customer ranking for survey question: What is most useful to you when
looking at a restaurants website?

Conclusions
After compiling this data, we were able to determine a valid conclusion according to our
customers needs for the creation of a company web page. Our data clearly shows that
creating a company web page would be beneficial to the customer and an effective way to
expand our business.
Our research indicates that more than half of our guests would access our webpage for
viewing online menus. We also discovered in the process that the restaurant could be
profitable if we began offering take-out ordering. 75% of our guests responded favorably to
using an online take-out service. Along with being ranked the second most useful feature
on a website, the addition of take-out service could increase profits and bring in new
customers. Along with creating a take-out service, our data also indicates that more than
half of our guests would use an online reservation service. The online reservations would
allow for expedited service through shorter wait times and less congestion from lines at the
door.

Recommendation
We recommend the creation of a company web page for Blue Rock Bar & Grill. We also
recommend that this website include the features and services deemed useful from our
customer surveys. We can launch the website with the most useful features: customer
reviews, online reservations, specials/coupons, map/directions, and dining menus. Then
after the initial launch we can begin to add nutrition information and photos of the staff
and restaurant.
We recommend that we begin a pilot program for take-out ordering which can be
integrated in the website after the new service is in place.
With over half of our customers expressing interest in the restaurant offering a website,
our company would be able to expand and grow on many levels while increasing customer
satisfaction.

References
Applebee's IP LLC. (2010). Menus: Applebee's. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from Applebee's IP
LLC website: http://www.applebees.com/MenuLandingStatic.aspx
OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC. (2010). Curbside Take-Away Online Ordering: Outback
Steakhouse. Retrieved May 5, 2010, from Outback Steakhouse website:
http://www.outback.com/CurbsideTakeAway/
T.G.I. Friday's Inc. (2010). Promos: T.G.I. Friday's. Retrieved May 3, 2010, from T.G.I.
Friday's Inc. website: http://www.tgifridays.com/promos/3course.aspx

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Appendix: Guest Questionnaire

Below is a copy of the questionnaire that was distributed to our customers. We made 200
questionnaires and received 180 completed forms that we analyzed. The responses are
shown next to each question in bold.
Blue Rock Bar & Grill Questionnaire
Directions: We are considering creating a website for our restaurant. We would value
your feedback on this idea and your help deciding which features we should consider if
we choose to create a website. Thank you for your input.

Do you check online for menus of restaurants before you visit them?
Circle One: Always 45% Frequently 30%

Rarely 20% Never 5%

Would you make your reservations online with us if that was available to you?
Circle One: Yes 55%

No 45%

Would you order take-out with our online services?

Circle One: Yes 75%
No 25%
What is most useful to you when looking at a restaurants website?
Put a 1 next to the item most useful, a 2 next to your second choice, and so on.
__5__ Dining Menus
__3__ Specials & Coupons
__2__ Online Take-out Ordering
__6__ Online Reservations
__7__ Nutrition Information
__4__ Map & Directions
__8__ Photos of Staff & Restaurant
__1__ Customer Reviews