Using Data Visualisation to Find F&B Opportunities during a Pandemic

This case is set in late 2021, when the food and beverage (F&B) industry globally had been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Tim Ang was an analyst at Singapore Management University’s Institute of Service Excellence (ISE), which had been established to help raise the performance of the service sector in Singapore. Since its inception in 2008, ISE had conducted an annual study measuring the Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG). The CSISG covered more than 20 sub-sectors and measured over 100 companies from finance, insurance, info-communications, transportation, retail, F&B, healthcare, education, tourism, hotels, and more. Data for the customer satisfaction study for the F&B sector was typically collected in the third quarter of every year, and results were released to both the media and industry. The 2021 study revealed that while customer satisfaction and loyalty levels had remained generally unchanged for most of the F&B sector, Cafés and Coffee Houses saw a significant decline in both metrics.

Yet despite the challenges, Ang believed there were significant service gaps and opportunities which could be leveraged. A detailed analysis of underperforming areas and customer preferences should provide F&B entrepreneurs with insights n potential opportunities to address industry pain points and capture market share.

Students are expected to use data visualisation to understand the changes in customer preferences towards F&B during the COVID-19 pandemic and gain insights into the problem. They will be able to 1) explain the impact of data analysis and visualisation in making decisions; 2) propose an appropriate framework to study the impact of the changes; and 3) prepare a suitable dashboard to present the results.

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