Thesis

SPEC Analysis
Social:
Americans prefer dinning out, in fact 90 percent enjoy going to restaurants, compared
to 66 percent who enjoy going to grocery stores (Tetreault, 2016). Restaurants provide
customers with a social experience and 56 percent of adults say they would rather
spend money on that, compared to purchasing an item from a store (Tetreault, 2016).
Selecting the perfect restaurant has gone almost completely digital. When looking for
places to eat, 83 percent of adults use smartphones or tablets to look up restaurant
locations, directions, and hours. Seventy-five percent look up menus, 55 percent read
reviews, 51 percent order takeout or delivery directly from the restaurant website, and
50 percent use rewards or special deals (National Restaurant Association, 2017). This
highlights the need for an informative and user friendly website.
Most restaurant consumers today are also more likely to choose a particular
establishment if it was recommended by their friend, 78 percent of guests find
restaurants to try based on recommendations from their friends. However, the second
most popular way guests find new restaurants was through social media (Tetreault,
2016). This demonstrates the need for engaging and consistent social media usage.
Restaurants provide customers with food, drinks and a social environment to enjoy
themselves while socializing with others.
Political:
Today, the U.S. Restaurant Industry is concerned with a number of state and national
laws that affect how businesses operate. These topics include, wage laws, smoking laws,
the legalization of recreational marijuana and gambling, for business in Nevada.
According to a 2016 National Restaurant Association Study, government and labor costs,
and minimum wage, are the top challenges facing restaurant operators in 2016
(National Restaurant Association, 2017). The survey concluded 22 percent of
respondents ranked government as a top challenge, 19 percent ranked food costs, 18%
ranked economy, 16 percent ranked recruiting employees, and 10 percent ranked sales
volume (National Restaurant Association, 2017).
Wage Laws in California:
Although there are some exceptions, almost all employees in California must be paid the
minimum wage as required by state law. Effective January 1, 2017, the minimum wage
for all industries will be increased yearly. From January 1, 2017, to January 1, 2022, the
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