N.C. State students analyze how changes in a restaurant impact traffic and sales

TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Revenue Management Solutions (RMS), a leader in taking a data-based approach to restaurant menu pricing and optimization for leading restaurant brands worldwide, is proud to announce it is one of 15 organizations returning as a sponsor for N.C. State University's Master of Science Analytics practicum project. The program is designed to give students the opportunity to work on large-scale projects to hone their analytical skills on real-world challenges. 

Other organizations involved in the 2018-2019 program include major financial institutions, such as Bank of America, Zurich-based Credit Suisse, Montreal-based RBC Royal Bank, as well as The Home Depot, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the reigning Major League Baseball World Series champions, the Houston Astros.

This past year, five N.C. State graduate students worked with RMS' senior analytics team to analyze how a range of events, from pricing recommendations to marketing initiatives, impacted the financial performance of restaurant companies.

The students established whether the initiatives had an effect on restaurant performance (like a traffic increase), the magnitude of the effect (how much the traffic increased), and the type of effect. The different types of effects, such as permanent, temporary, pulse (there is an initial effect, and clients should not expect it to last) help restaurant operators understand that not all events have a uniform effect on performance.

RMS plans to integrate the students' findings and recommendations on the latest methodologies into its "toolbox" of analytical approaches to measure the effects of changes in restaurant operations in different ways. The metrics will also be used internally to test and develop new methodologies in a scientific manner.

"This partnership provides a high value to the graduate students, to RMS, and to N.C. State," said Joel Davis, Chief Strategy Officer for Revenue Management Solutions. "It helps us to form great relationships with these students and follow them in their career, while giving them the opportunity to tackle real-world industry problems in a meaningful way."

The assignments in the program are designed around the students' class syllabus to align with their curriculum and their learning.

About Revenue Management Solutions:
Revenue Management Solutions, based in Tampa, Florida USA, is a leader in menu pricing consulting and brings a data-based approach to pricing and menu optimization for restaurants, providing solutions for a number of leading global restaurant brands, including many of the largest companies in the industry. Since 1994, the company has been successfully providing solutions to clients to increase profit and enhance brand value. RMS assists more than 50 major brands in more than 40 countries, with its patented processes of revenue management used in more than 100,000 locations globally. 

SOURCE Revenue Management Solutions