How to Write Restaurant SaaS Case Studies (+5 Great Examples)

Think Resto
8 min readMar 5, 2021

In the field of restaurant technology, it’s important to offer unique solutions and top-notch tech to your clients but ultimately before deciding about a purchase, there’s one thing that your potential customers will look for and that’s CASE STUDIES.

Storytelling can play a huge role in the world of marketing today and so case studies are powerful tools. They serve as influential content that can tip the scales in your favor when it comes to finding new customers. More than mere testimonials, these case studies provide in-depth examples of how your brand can help restaurants meet their goals.

In simple terms, case studies work like references. The more the merrier!

But how do you write a good case study?
How can it benefit you?
Can case studies really help you increase sales?

Let’s get started!

What is a Case Study?

A case study is a written account that paints a clear picture of a client’s experience using your restaurant technology. It is a real-life example of success brought about with the help of your service. Potential clients can use case studies to gain more information about your work experience as well as positive results.

Such a study needs to get across two things-

  1. The problem your clients were facing before turning to your service
  2. How your restaurant tech helped them overcome the problem

In short, this is the place where you are supposed to highlight how your restaurant technology helped a business grow and gain profits. This simple piece of marketing content can be very effective in terms of attracting new clients.

How Do Case Studies Help Your Business?

We live in a world where every product and service has a bunch of alternatives, so how can you make yourself stand out?

Well, that’s exactly what case studies are for.

Every restaurant looking to invest in the right kind of tech relies on testimonials, stellar reviews, and successful case studies before picking out a certain service. More than the WHAT, they want to know HOW, a service, or the platform can help their restaurant meet the set objective.

73 percent of customers in the B2B field have relied on case studies before making a purchase.

By putting forward a real-life instance of helping a restaurant tackle business problems as well as highlighting specific results they achieved using your tech, it is easier to evoke confidence in your brand among target audience members.

So, publishing an impressive case study is a simple way of proving that your service truly works and it yields results. Given that you also portray factual proof for the same is a good way to create credibility and reinforce your reputation.

How to Write A Case Study for Restaurant SaaS

To begin with, it is imperative to pick a business that has a decent brand value if not extremely popular, and has benefited tremendously from your system. Make sure that you seek approval from the brand before publishing their sales data or any kind of statistics that may be confidential property.

Once you’ve decided the brand from your clientele list, put in a request for an interview. Discuss key factors such as which tech features helped them the most, how they handled business in the past, whether operations have become more optimized now, and try to highlight solutions that your service brought about in a way that other potential clients will be able to identify with. You can also use online forms like Google Feedback Forms to create a questionnaire that the brand rep can attend to at his/her convenience.

Ideally, restaurants should be happy to be part of case studies given that they receive a good PR with such studies being published online.

Now is the time to structure your content. It doesn’t really have to be in a question-answer format. You can play around with the content structure as per your brand ethos. it is always advised to create one format for case studies and use the same one for all that follows after. Regardless of the way you choose to structure the layout, make sure that each and every section highlights at least one important point that has made a difference to the overall productivity and profitability for the brand in question.

Your writing style needs to align with your company brand. If you use a lighthearted, informal style on your website and social media, feel free to do the same here. Big words and phrases might be confusing to readers. Crisp, engaging language is the way to go.

Points to Keep in Mind

In most scenarios, a case study has a basic structure. Just like a story, there’s a start, middle, and end.

You start off by talking about how a restaurant ran its business before you provided your service. Then, you move on to elaborate on how their business improved with your tech.

Your case study can be filled with quotes from your clients, graphs, and pie charts. You could also include a before and after comparison of sales numbers, if the client allows.

All of this data needs to be written in the most compelling way possible. If your case study looks like a dry report with a bunch of numbers, it won’t grab your readers’ attention.

If you brag while using fancy language but don’t have the numbers to back it up, a potential client won’t be too impressed either.

Your goal is to find the right balance between providing data and creating a persuasive story.

Now that you have a clear idea about what case studies are, we’re here with 5 stunning examples of restaurant case studies you can learn from.

Restolabs

Restolabs has a case study on the chain “Great Wraps”.

The case study begins with a quick introduction about the food chain and mentions that the chain is an experienced player too. By revealing these details right at the beginning of the article, readers tend to get hooked easily.

The narrative is pretty easy to follow. First, they address the main problem solved by the Restolabs online ordering system-helping businesses go online. At the same time, the study also highlights why there is a need for such a system in a world where online ordering has become the norm.

It puts into writing the increase in sales once the Restolabs system was brought into action. These numbers are gripping.

By addressing these points, a potential restaurant owner can easily identify with the product. As the case study illustrates the benefits of the online ordering system one by one in detail, it highlights product features and how they add value to a business in a concise manner. This way, any questions a potential customer might have are answered directly.

An easy read, this kind of content is informative to restaurant owners and keeps them engaged too.

Toast

Toast’s case study on “Melting Pot” is interesting.

It begins with an interesting, eye-catchingng title — Toast helped a restaurant include online ordering and enter the takeout game for the very first time.

It has a concise introduction about the brand and its presence across countries, immediately putting into place that a recognized restaurant has benefitted from its service.

There are a ton of quotes from different restaurant employees here. This is a huge plus because hearing someone’s experience in their own words can be very persuasive.

The case study also has a lot of links to other website content, which is an effective marketing tool too. This can help create a better idea of the brand in a potential client’s mind.

Menu Drive

MenuDrive has put up a case study on Sushi Ko.

Restaurants can often make bold claims about their business without any backing. However, this case study is nothing like that.

It’s all in the numbers- Sushi Ko grew profits by a whopping 821%. It made $47,856 in profit.

Who can argue with such figures? With this data to back it up, a case study instantly turns much more convincing.

They cut straight to the chase with a “before” and “after” and this brevity speaks volumes. Without putting too much effort into creating a storyline, a potential client is presented with the bare facts to seal the deal. These specifics are what help clients make buying decisions anyway.

ChowNow

ChowNow’s case study on Hummus Labs is in a neat Q&A format. It’s broken down into clear sections that handle distinct topics.

It starts off with quantifiable results and highlights the number of orders Hummus Labs has made over the last few months. We also have the owner’s account of an increase in sales since the intervention of ChowNow. These statistics spell out the progress that’s been made.

It also has a unique personal touch-there is a section about the restaurant owner and how he came up with his business. This personal aspect in storytelling helps make a case study seem more genuine, one that people can connect with.

UpMenu

UpMenu’s case study on Little Italy makes use of imagery as well as good storytelling. Here’s how-they weave a tale about the brand profile at first and swiftly move on to the prime issue faced by the restaurant.

Then, they address the solutions they’ve provided by simultaneously demonstrating each product feature they offer. It doesn’t rely too much on industry lingo but instead uses easy language.

By incorporating snapshots from the ordering system, promotional offers, as well as a graph depicting the increase in sales, the entire case study presents in a nutshell why UpMenu might be a good fit for restaurants.

All in all, a case study can do wonders if you want a resounding “yes!” from your potential clients. Using these tips and examples as inspiration, try to come up with a case study of your own that can close the deal. Add your own flair to it, focus on the specifics and you’re good to go!

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Think Resto

Restaurant Blog that might have some answers for you.