On-trade: a data nightmare… or a strategic opportunity?

1 day ago
4 min read

For a Data, Digital or CRM Manager in the foodservice industry, on-trade represents a unique challenge.

It's a strategic channel for brands, a trend laboratory, and a major driver of profitability. Yet, from a data perspective, it remains one of the most complex environments to leverage.

The problem isn't a lack of information. Cash registers process millions of transactions every day. The real obstacle lies in the fragmented market, the heterogeneity of systems, and the absence of a common language between institutions.

At Fyre, our mission is to transform this complexity into concrete decisions that improve profitability. To understand why on-trade is so difficult to manage, we must first analyze the very nature of this market.

A structurally fragmented market

The European on-trade sector comprises over 1.4 million HoReCa establishments across nine key countries . This diversity represents a commercial asset, but it also significantly complicates analysis.

Let's take France as an example. The HoReCa sector there comprises approximately 182,000 establishments, including restaurants, bars, and limited-service establishments. Behind this figure lies a much more complex reality: traditional restaurants, brasseries, themed concepts, premium bars, independent cafés, and small regional groups. Each segment has its own pricing dynamics, average check levels, and consumer behaviors.

For a CRM manager at a beverage or foodservice company, the customer base is never a homogeneous group. Comparing the performance of a premium urban bar with that of a traditional suburban restaurant only makes sense with a solid and consistent segmentation. Without harmonization, the analysis becomes approximate and the decisions risky.

Abundant data, but incomparable

Technically, the data exists. Each cash register records the products sold, quantities, prices, and times. However, using this information on a large scale often proves to be a real challenge.

Each POS system has its own structure and naming conventions. The same product can appear under dozens of different names depending on the establishment. This lack of standardization makes consolidation extremely complex. Before even generating an insight, data teams must go through a cleaning and standardization phase that requires considerable time and resources.

This invisible work has a strategic cost. As long as the data is not harmonized, it is impossible to calculate a reliable market share, accurately analyze a price difference, or measure the real impact of an activation. The energy spent preparing the data further delays decision-making.

Reports that are out of step with the reality on the ground

Adding to this structural complexity is another major challenge: the time lag. Traditional market solutions often provide monthly reports with a delay of several weeks. In an environment as dynamic as on-trade trading, this delay severely limits the ability to take action.

Prices change rapidly, trends sometimes emerge in a matter of weeks, and certain local activations can transform a brand's performance in a neighborhood in a very short time. When data arrives six weeks late, it describes the past without allowing us to influence the present.

For a Digital Manager, leading an activation strategy under these conditions means making decisions without immediate visibility on their real impact.

The direct impact on profitability

Non-harmonized data is not just a technical problem, it's a business issue. It directly influences a manufacturer's ability to allocate resources, prioritize sales efforts , and demonstrate the return on investment of its actions.

Imagine a large-scale activation in a major city. The goal is to identify priority establishments, concentrate resources on high-potential areas, and test different promotional strategies. Without precise segmentation and daily sales tracking via POS APIs, optimization becomes imprecise.

Conversely, when establishments are properly clustered by area, concept, or customer profile, it becomes possible to compare homogeneous groups, isolate best practices, and adjust strategy in real time. The impact on profitability is then tangible, as every euro invested is driven by data.

Understanding the “why” rather than observing the “what”

Most traditional reports simply state what happened: changes in volume, market share, average price. However, for a Data Manager, the real value lies in understanding the underlying mechanisms.

Why does a particular product outperform in premium bars but not in mainstream establishments? Why is a price increase absorbed in some regions but not in others? Why does an activation work in one specific cluster and fail elsewhere?

To answer these questions, structured, enriched, and representative data is needed. A robust sample of 5,000 establishments, for example, allows us to obtain a margin of error of ±0.04 € on the average price with a 95% confidence level. This level of precision changes the nature of the decisions made.

By massively connecting point-of-sale systems and transforming receipts into comparable data using AI, Fyre makes it possible to move from an imprecise snapshot of the market to a fine and segmented reading, usable by CRM and sales teams.

The new role of the Data Manager in on-trade

The role of the Data Manager is evolving profoundly. It's no longer just about consolidating files or producing dashboards. It's about connecting market data to internal data, intelligently segmenting the customer base, and providing sales teams with clear priorities.

Thanks to tools like Horeca Pulse, Activation Monitor , and venue-level data that can be directly integrated into CRM, data becomes a powerful operational lever. It allows businesses to identify underperforming establishments in a given region, compare their pricing to similar establishments, and launch targeted activations that are tracked in real time.

Data ceases to be a simple analytical tool and becomes an engine of execution.

Structuring chaos to create a competitive advantage

The on-trade market will never be simple. Its fragmentation is part of its DNA. However, the way data is collected, harmonized, and used can transform this complexity into a competitive advantage.

For a Data Manager, the challenge is no longer simply to obtain more information, but to have reliable, comparable, and directly actionable data. When segmentation is clear, reporting is near real-time, and data is connected to the CRM, every business decision becomes more precise.

It is at this point that on-trade ceases to be a data nightmare and becomes a field of measurable, performance-driven opportunities.

The real question, therefore, is not whether data is complex in the on-trade. It is. The question is whether your organization has the tools to transform that complexity into profitable growth.