FEATURE
MARKETING
WHY IS MARKET
CAPTURE IMPORTANT?
Know it, use it and grow it
By Ann Roebuck
F
or a growing number of campuses, dining services has evolved from a mandated program serving a captive
audience to a market-driven business that must compete on equal footing with a variety of other dining options,
both off and on campus. Assessing market capture in a quantitative manner on a regular basis is an important
tool used by operators to gauge business performance and inform strategic and tactical decision-making.
There are several reasons to study and understand market
capture:
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•
•
To have an understanding of the global picture of
your campus dining program that includes the number, mix and distribution of dining venues. Are the
individual venues correctly aligned with the campus
population and needs?
To identify and understand areas of campus or a
market segment of campus population that is underserved. Do all areas of campus have access to dining?
Is there a segment that could be served better?
It is a way to quantify the business case for new venues on campus. How many times as an operator does
A market capture
study does
not have to be
long, drawnout, extensive
exercise, but it
can be a quick-hit
process to provide
quantifiable,
usable results.
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C O L L E G E S E R V I C E S | S P R I N G 2012
•
•
•
a dean or other university administrator desire a food
venue in their building and you know that there
would not be enough traffic in the area to fully support a new operation?
It is a way to gauge the health/performance of a single
venue or group of venues.
By conducting a yearly study, you are able to measure
the impact of campus changes on your dining business such as enrollment growth, new housing, new
meal plans, dining venue renovation, added competition, etc.
Provides a basis for strategic planning to build revenue through increased capture among targeted segments of the campus dining market.
The definition of market capture is to measure the extent
of an operation’s sales volume relative to the total sales
volume of all competing operations. The resulting measurement is usually presented in terms of a percentage.
Understanding the implications of this measurement is
critical to the success of all food service operations.
MARKET CAPTURE STUDY
A market capture study involves the surveying of a smaller
sample of the campus population to determine the participant’s location on campus and where they obtained
their meal for each day-part. The information gathered for
the sample is then applied to the entire campus population. The results are analyzed based on each day-part to
determine the market capture within a segment or zone
of campus.
A market capture study conducted at a major Midwestern
university, that is a highly residential campus, divided the
campus into zones. The study also identified specific days
and daily time periods to locate where the respondent was
on campus. The study also identified, based on classroom
usage data, what the population was for each campus
zone.
After analyzing all of this data, there were a few interesting results. First, there was a very strong market capture
for most day-parts during weekdays, but these capture
rates dropped dramatically for Saturday. This drop in capture, when further investigated, also corresponded to a
decrease in the number of operations open in the affected
zones. Identifying this opportunity to increase market capture could be considered picking low-hanging fruit since
the operations were already in place and the only cost
consideration would be the labor and utilities required to
have one or more operations open.
Another interesting outcome from the research indicated
that there is a large population concentration in the North
Quad area during meal times and this area of campus does
not contain any retail operations. Current demand is met
through the residential dining operations and migration
of customers to other zones of campus. With no plans for
a retail operation in this zone, recommendations were
made to focus on the closest retail operation to provide
more customer throughput/faster service and to increase
the number of seats in dining during the identified peak
day-parts.
BENEFITS OF ANALYSIS
Who can benefit from a market capture analysis? Any
operator who wants to better align their campus dining
operations based on their population, those operators
who have a desire to improve service to their campus,
operators who want to gauge the performance of a single
operation and those operators looking to begin strategic
planning for the future. A market capture study does not
have to be long, drawn-out, extensive exercise, but it can
be a quick-hit process to provide quantifiable, usable results.
Most operators conduct customer satisfaction surveys on a
regular basis to provide a snapshot of how they are doing and
to benchmark themselves to measure growth. Think of market
capture in a similar light.
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•
Do you want to quantify how a venue is doing? Then market capture is an ideal measurement.
Do you want to measure growth? Conducting repeated
market capture analyses can provide this measurement of
growth.
Do you want to benchmark against other dining programs?
Understanding the market capture for the dining program
could then allow for benchmark comparisons with other
similar campus dining operators. Understanding benchmarks can empower not only directors but managers to
develop appropriate strategic plans and implement these
plans to make positive change to their market capture.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
• Conduct market capture after dining patterns have been
established (i.e. not at the very beginning of a semester or
term).
• For smaller campuses, identify capture by venue and for
larger campuses identify capture by zones.
• Repeat the market capture study on a regular basis to set
benchmarks for your campus and unique campus situation.
• Utilize the market capture information to guide strategic
planning decisions.
Campus dining operates in an ebb and flow environment of
constant change, i.e. class location and times, traffic patterns,
off-campus competitors, customer preferences and many
more. Identifying and monitoring market capture should be
one of the constant benchmarks for each operation in the everchanging environment and the dining program as a whole.
Market capture is one tool in the toolbox that determines the
success of a campus dining program. Identify the tool, use the
tool, and apply the measurements from the tool to grow and
further develop your campus dining program.
For any operator, understanding and monitoring market capture should be a key component to your business. Know it, use
it and grow it should be your mantra! Know your market capture rate. Use the knowledge of your market capture to grow
your business.
Ann Roebuck brings more than 12 years
of experience in the foodservice industry
to every project, including seven years of
operations planning and facility design. Her
industry experience also includes restaurant
operations and the planning and implementation of cook/chill production systems.
Contact her at aroebuck@envstrategies.com.
T h e Co n n e ct i o n s T h a t Co u n t | www.n aca s.o r g
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