COVID-19 has change customer’s consumption habits, especially the rise of the "contactless delivery" and "self-serve ordering" in the catering industry, which has forced SMEs to join the food delivery platforms. Also, in "2021 Global Consumer Insight Report" shows that 90% of consumers will still choose digital channels as their main consumption pattern in post-pandemic era.

To satisfy the needs of consumers, top 3 digital tools that the catering industry tend to apply are "Data Analysis Platform (37.0%)", "Online Food Ordering and Delivery System (29.9%)", and "After-sales Service Management (25.0%)" according to "2021 Global Consumer Insight Report". Obviously, the digital transformation of the catering industry not only requires the diversification of customer service channels, but also expands the demand for data analysis due to the increase in online channels that generate huge amounts of data.

Facing the same challenges, Le Ruban Pâtisserie set up an online store in 2021 so that customers could directly order and pay a deposit instead of waiting for a personal reply. Nevertheless, such diverse ordering methods have increased the complexity of the operating processes for the store's front-line workers. In fact, the sales orders from the online store and in-store purchases were deposit in different system, causing the store staff to spend over an hour every day to manually integrated the information from the ERP and POS system to comprehend the daily business conditions.

Thanks to the “Introducing SMEs to the Application of Digital Services Program,” a joint effort by the Department of Economic Development, Taipei City Government, Le Ruban Pâtisserie was able to engage in in-depth collaboration with innovative software developer, RevtelTech, to optimize the ordering process of its online store. At the same time, its revenue analytics process was also simplified by WiAdvance, Microsoft’s Licensing Solutions Partner, through deploying the Microsoft BI tools.

Since setting up its online store, approximately 70% of Le Ruban Pâtisserie’s orders come from its website. To help Le Ruban Pâtisserie manage orders using more intelligent technology, RevtelTech designed an inventory module with a calendar function so that the store could forecast its daily production capacity. In addition, the system can warn Le Ruban Pâtisserie in case of low inventories. At the same time, the "order and scheduling" functions were optimized so that the system could automatically arrange a schedule based on delivery dates. It also regularly confirms the order status against the ERP system to prevent any orders from becoming lost when large number of orders flood in.



To further simplify the work of the staff, so that they do not have to run the ERP and POS systems repeatedly to understand the store's business conditions, WiAdvance assisted Le Ruban Pâtisserie in deploying Microsoft’s Power BI tool, which allows the integration and analysis of online and offline order information and conveys business figures using visual charts and graphs. For example, to determine a store’s purchasing volume, staff can use a “bar graph” to compare the sales and scrapped volumes of dessert items on a daily basis. Moreover, by analyzing the expected pickup volume at each store, managers can more easily distribute human resources since Le Ruban Pâtisserie also offers in-store pickups. 

Not only did the digital transformation optimize Le Ruban Pâtisserie’s work flow, it also helped the dessert store visualize the management decisions that could be made behind each piece of operational data. For instance, by using Power BI to integrate the stores’ orders and sales, Le Ruban Pâtisserie will be able to use the system to make sales forecasts based on information such as temperature and holidays going forward. RevtelTech has also observed that when an online store becomes one's major retail channel, partnerships between enterprises can also become more systematic. Currently it is developing an e-voucher system to increase the flexibility and convenience of use for corporate customers!

For SMEs who want to apply for the “Introducing SMEs to the Application of Digital Services Program,” you can visit the official website (https://www.stbear.com.tw/WiAdvance/). And look for assistance from WiAdvance and 25 information service providers to solve management problems and develop innovative business models.