Executive Summary
Chili’s grill and bar is the chain of restaurants which was set up by Larry Lavine in the year 1975 and Dallas in Texas, United States and was sold to Norman E Brinker in the year 1983. The company that started with one branch today has its operations in 50 locations across United States and has various branches in over 30 countries across the world. Chili’s has become one of the famous brands into the casual dining industry and maintain a very good perception among their customers through variety of products and the Tex-Mex food culture that they have authentically introduced into the market. The company's mission is to become a leading restro-bar across the world and cover the market as a casual dining place and sports bar. With its expansion over many countries, the company enjoys a good growth in terms of revenue and has a turnover of over 60 million as reported in the last financial year.
The company proposes various types of menus, specific to the different customer tastes. Although it’s specific products are based on a varied red meat selection (Smoky, Sweet, Savory Ribs, “Fresh ’n’ Juicy Big Mouth Burger”), Latino dishes and flavors (fajitas, quesadillas, tacos, steaks), the restaurant is adapting its offer to modern times, to other tastes or food perceptions. Therefore, the restaurant also serves fish and chicken products, or vegetarian dishes.
Combining avocado or mushrooms with tasty burgers, bacon, tortilla strips, barbeque sauce, cheddar, cinnamon, Swiss maple flavor and so on, creates a mouth – watering effect (this is actually one of Chili’s restaurant burger products). This culinary mix of South American kitchen with United States specialties and various flavors creates a real dining experience based on a spicy taste. The company currently is operating successfully in all the countries that it has entered, and is definitely exploring opportunities across other locations where it currently is not operating and is seeking expansion in the countries where it has successful operations.
There are lots of opportunities in terms of e-commerce and technology that can help to expand the company's operations. The company is already providing the facility to its customers to place an order online however it is only possible on Chili’s website and depends upon the availability of a branch within 5 to 25 miles of the customer's location.
There are lot of e-commerce websites that are providing comparisons of restaurants and table booking facilities, Chili’s can take this opportunity with both hands and must collaborate with these websites in order to promote its services to the customers and allow a table booking online through them. Considering the fact that it is a part of the service industry and specifically dining and restaurants, the role of e-commerce is quite restricted however given to the above situation there still are lot of opportunities that can be explored in order to achieve the desired outcome.
Although, from a sales point of view e-commerce may not be directly helpful to Chili’s, and it may not provide any help in diversification of the business however since this is a part of the restaurant industry where the online reviews matters a lot, Chili’s ensure that they have a very sound activity on social media like Twitter and Facebook due to which there are lot of positive comments which add to the popularity of the brand.
Choice of Countries for Expansion
This research has been conducted in order to investigate the expansion opportunities for Chili’s Grill & Bar Restaurant’s entrance in the UK and Indian market. For proposing an informed plan, the research combines theoretic data with practical analyses of Chili’s business context for illustrating: a product audit, the company’s objectives for penetrating the UK market, a marketing mix plus consumers’ shopping behaviors and market segmentation and analyzing Chili’s SWOT.
The UK competition on food industry is very tough, considering the varied food companies activating on this market (fast food, grill, Mexican restaurants, or English pubs, who can be Chili’s direct competitors). However, considering that Chili’s brings an authentic part of Tex-Mex food, combined with an original casual American atmosphere, Chili’s is aiming to bring a new dining concepts that will attract the English population, mostly due to its sports oriented specific. On the other hand India is a country which may not have a population that would directly relate to the casual dining culture brought by Chili’s from the United States. However, considering the popularity of the brand and the successful operations of many American food chains like McDonald's, Yum foods, Ruby Tuesday and TGI Friday there is no doubt in the fact that cuisine from United States are quite popular and appreciated by the people.
The primary reason in UK which may restrict the growth of Chili’s is that, most of the products being served by the company are related to fast food and may not be defined as healthy and considering the growth is of health consciousness there may be a decline in the number of customers that visit the restaurant. On the other hand, most of the food chains in India have products that are priced either on the lower side or on the average however Chili’s has a menu which is quite expensive according to the country's economy and therefore is a little harsh on the pocket of the people.
There were 62,698,362 people living in UK in July 2011, with ages between: 0 – 14 (17 %), 15 – 64 (66,2%) and above 65 (16,5%). The population is mainly residing in the urban area (80% of UK’s population lived in urban areas in 2010) and therefore almost the entire UK can easily be covered by Chili’s. India, however is a developing country and has a population that majorly resides in rural areas hence the only target areas for the company initially would be the four metro cities of India, the company is already operating in Bangalore and may look for expansion in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.
In United Kingdom, the company must take immediate steps to introduce more products for health-conscious and promote them so that people understand that along with quality leisure dining the company also provides options of healthy dining. As far as the pricing of products in India is concerned, with the kind of infrastructure and products being served it is not possible for the company to reduce its prices however customized products can be introduced at low cost to cover a different segment of the market.
Over time, the need for leisure time evolved, and marketers should pay a close attention and seize this aspect in order to attract clients to buy their promoted product or service, promising a perfect solution for leisure. Chili’s includes a close collaboration with sport teams that make the delight in the market. This concept of food and sports creates a perfect leisure time for working people or teenagers. Therefore, Chili’s found the perfect solution for answering its clients’ leisure needs, by predicting their expectancies and therefore it perfectly suits the sports culture of United Kingdom. Indian culture may not be similar to the sports, power and bar culture which is being introduced by the company however the dining experience and the Tex-Mex cuisines provided by Chili’s are good enough reason for the people to visit the outlets.
The company must explore opportunities to promote its services in both UK and India by promoting sports activities, and its loyalty programs (the coupon cards). The company is already providing various opportunities for its customers to enjoy the various sports event by taking the benefit of discounts during the season where they get to see their favorite sports and enjoy delicious Tex-Mex cuisines.
The Recruitment Presentation
Discussion and Summary
Analyzing Chili’s menus there can be observed that it proposes different assortment of dishes and different culinary experiences in order to address various groups of clients. As discussed above, Chili’s is committed to delivering a fun and relaxed dining atmosphere but it spices its products and services for different tastes. Therefore, The Tex-Mexican restaurant offers a wide selection of meat products but it also reaches the vegetarian customers, by proposing a vegetable based menu. Regarding the dining experiences, Chili proposes an authentic ‘Tex-Mex’ experience by combining the tasty spicy food and drinks with sports. Chili’s sustains, promotes and partners with Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Stars and Dallas Lakers teams in United States and from there the company carries this perception of being the right place for sport fans. The UK customers also have the option to view their favorite sports while enjoying food and sipping beer, and this is why they are willing to spend some time relaxing while enjoying a good game with their friends and families. In fact, this could very well represent the company’s unique selling value. However, there must be considered another significant aspect in order to estimate the potential market size and its specificities, depending on the market segmentation aspect, the competition and how competitor companies will react to Chili’s business strategy.
Chili’s competitors can be the sports bars and restaurant chains (The Old School Yard, Bar Kick, The Barley Mow, Belushis, Black Lion, Bonds, Brew Warf, The Broadway bar and grill, Café Grill), the restaurants with Mexican specific (The Restaurant Bar and Grill, Chiquito Mexican Restaurant and Bar, etc), or even the UK’s and India’s pubs, which offer a casual dining atmosphere, rich in food and drinks (mostly beer). Chili’s has to employ a thorough research for understanding its competitors’ dynamics, their clientele, their business and marketing strategies and to propose its own business model for attracting and retaining clients, forming its own clientele by “stealing” the competitors’ customers. In order to achieve this, it must propose a unique value, or to deliver a unique dining experience.
Chili’s Restaurants also employ an aggressive promotion approach in order to reach as many audiences as possible. Therefore, it uses networks with a wide coverage and “sticky jingle”. This jingle is a strong argument to sustain this:
"I want my baby back, baby back, baby back, I want my baby back, baby back, baby back / Chiliiiiiii's baby back riiiibs / Barbecue sauce" . This source also notes that this jingle was actually named the number one song most likely to get stuck in your head, by Advertising Age, in 2004. The customers are submitted to this message via radio or television channels mostly. Hence, the restaurant has already lived up to its image of casual dining outlet for the last 37 years and it's time for the company to enter a new market segment and penetrate the customer base of the same. The company has shown a great progress as a sports restro-bar and it is time for the company to expand this image by promoting sports viewing and pub culture in the various countries where it is already operating thus competing not only with the casual dining players in the market but also sports restro-bars .
Also as discussed, with the growth in health consciousness and issues like obesity at this time for the company to realize that gradually the fast food and fine dining culture would also be occupied by health-conscious products hence this is the right time for the company to expand its products by adding cuisine which may be low in calories however good to taste. This will certainly add a huge market for the company and would also be appreciated by the customers who are not willing to add calories to their health at the cost of taste. Similarly, market of developing countries like India must have few added products at low cost which may not provide the option of in-house dining but should allow the customers to take away and should be priced lower than the average to add another segment of customers.
