Customer Journey Research and Mapping for a National Restaurant Chain

Urgent issue: Friction across digital and in‑restaurant touchpoints was preventing an international restaurant chain from deepening customer relationships and realising growth from digital initiatives.

Under pressure to extend its leadership with customers, the client commissioned research to map customer journeys and answer a single, urgent question: where should they focus to improve experience and business outcomes?

1. Which specific moments that matter exist across the customer journey, and which matter most?
2. Where do these moments occur—digital versus in‑restaurant—and what motivates or blocks digital use?
3. Where are the friction points in the journey and how can they be resolved, addressed or minimised?
4. Who in the industry is doing this well that the client could learn from?
5. What is the business impact of delivering a friction‑free, digitally‑enabled journey and what untapped '10X' opportunities exist from small, targeted changes?

In short: how can the chain identify, prioritise and remove friction across customer journeys to unlock measurable business impact?

Unique differentiator: real-time behavioral research combining video observation, eye-tracking and biometrics to reveal in-the-moment customer actions.

Process (step-by-step):

1. First: we ran intensive workshops with the client’s cross-functional teams to define shopper segments, channels (In-Restaurant, Delivery, Pickup) and ordering methods (In‑Person, Phone, Mobile, Drive‑Thru).
2. Then: we designed a multi-method study covering four approaches — in‑cafe qualitative shop‑along, in‑the‑moment mobile ethnography, post‑purchase quantitative online survey, and real‑time behavioral research (video, eye‑tracking, biometrics).
3. Next: field execution of each method by our team, capturing path‑to‑purchase touchpoints (trigger, awareness, channel selection, in‑cafe experience, travel, in‑home experience).
4. Finally: analysis and delivery of reports, segment/channel journey maps and consolidated recommendations.

Our role vs. client: we proposed and led the research design, execution and analysis; the client participated via cross‑functional workshops and provided business context.

Timing & methods: implemented over a 15‑week period using qualitative shop‑alongs, mobile ethnography, quantitative online surveys and biometric/video/eye‑tracking observation.

Keywords: shopper journey, path‑to‑purchase, customer experience, channels, ordering methods, journey mapping.

Delivered 3 key components that enabled a game-changing strategy for a national restaurant chain.

1. End-to-end journey insights identifying pain points, triggers, moments-of-truth and decision points across the full path-to-purchase.
2. In-restaurant and out-of-restaurant qualitative & quantitative analytics providing both behavioral insight and quantification by channel and diner segment.
3. Multiple customized journey maps (by segment and channel) including VOC verbatims, purchase triggers, pain points, moments of truth and decision‑critical factoids.

Business impact: these deliverables translate research into actionable decisions—prioritizing fixes that improve conversion, loyalty and brand differentiation while supporting targeted investments and faster iterations of shopper programs.

FAQ

How quickly were results delivered? In less than 90 days.

Was the method scalable or replicable? Yes — the approach (multi-channel analytics + customized maps by segment) is designed to be replicated and scaled across channels and markets.