Total estimated sales of the restaurants, caterers and taverns industry reached $3.4 billion in March, up 3.5% from March 2006. (Data are neither seasonally adjusted, nor adjusted for inflation.)
The increase in sales, at the national level, was due to higher sales at limited service restaurants (+4.4%). Sales for full service restaurants rose […]

Retail trade
March 2007
Retail sales surged in March, resulting in a strong first quarter. March’s gains were widespread with seven of eight retail sectors posting sales increases.
After two months of little change in sales growth, total retail sales rose 1.9% in March to an estimated $34.0 billion. The latest monthly […]

While Mother’s Day is traditionally known to be one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants, until recently, it was difficult to measure the impact of these occasions. I’m proud to say that Zata has changed that by through free restaurant benchmarking for restaurants.
We compared restaurant sales between Mother’s Day and the […]

On Sunday, April 22nd, let’s celebrate Earth Day by acknowledging good news stories about going green.
1. Recognize the responsibility
From small companies to multinationals, experience is proving that social and environmental policies can drive brand recognition, customer engagement, and shareholder value. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is really about good business practices, optimizing your resources and listening to […]

We all know that Hockey Playoffs are good for the restaurant industry, but Zata has actually measured the impact on local restaurants and bars. Zata compared the performance of 25 restaurants in Vancouver on nights where there was no hockey to nights when the Canucks had a playoff game. The results are posted […]

Week over week changes in sales as reported by Zata participants.
BC Restaurants: Up 3.3%
BC Retail Stores: Down 6.4%
Stop guessing how you’re doing and find out. Zata compares your sales and costs to other businesses in your market. Sign up today at www.myzata.com.

There are 6 templates that were identified by researchers at the University of Jerusalem. Click on the links to get more detailed explanations and examples.
1. Pictorial Analogy: Substitute another item in place of your product (or service) to create an unexpected explanation of the value of your product.
2. Extreme Situations: Show your products […]

Template #6 - Time Leap
This template shows a situation, then jumps either forward or back in time to entertain or to demonstrate the value of the product.
In the first example from for a Playstation 2 game, time is rewound to show the consequences of a single action.

Template #5 - The Interactive Experiment
The concept here is to get your customer to take some action to “prove to themselves” that your product is right for them.
There are several excellent examples of this, both current and historical.
One commercial and print campaign that ran in the 1970’s used a credit card to demonstrate […]

Week over week changes in sales as reported by Zata participants.
BC Restaurants: Down 2.52%
BC Retail Stores: Up 8.7%
Stop guessing how you’re doing and find out. Zata compares your sales and costs to other businesses in your market. Sign up today at www.myzata.com.