Effects of technology and innovation on Pret a manager Essay

Effects of technology and innovation on Pret a manager - Essay Example Information technology plays an essential role in the unprecedented growth of retail restaurant industry. A retail restaurant industry is a segment of the business which comprises of individuals and organisation whose are mainly engaged with the selling of ready foods to the consumers. Pret a manger is one such organisation which belongs to this particular segment. The report will highlight on the areas such as the role of information technology in the retail restaurant industry as well as more specifically to the company pret a manger. Apart from this the project will also highlight on the different approaches of pret a manger in the context of sustainable development, use of IT and innovations. The report also proposes to highlight the benefits offered by information technology for different elements. Role of Information Technology in Restaurant industry In this sector the functions of Information technology and innovation is significant as it helps in the process of research and d evelopment, financial segment, product development, pricing, distribution and promotion. In other words information technology helps all the 4p’s of marketing mix. The industry plays an important role in the growth of the economy. It is one of the largest growing food types and intended for immediate consumption. The restaurant industry has some distinguishing factor within itself. The point of difference lies where some restaurants have their dedicated kitchens in their outlets while some other restaurants outlets get supply of the ready food from the factory. The industry includes members such as refreshment stands, fast food restaurants, full service restaurants, caterers and institutional food providers. Large fast food chain majorly contributes to the restaurant industry. In a recent study conducted, where it has been found that there were approximately 10 million retail restaurants available across the world. Among them most of the outlets were owned by individuals and single entities. But there are around 350 restaurants involved in chain business. The big names within this category are McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Pizza hut, Dominos, Subway, Fingers and Del Taco, pret a manger among various other players. The noticeable foodstuffs includes pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, French fries, soups, chicken roasts, baguettes ice creams to the traditional Asian fast foods like noodles, fried rice and soups among the others. Franchise operation acts as the most vital component of this industry but some companies go for direct operation as well. The market shares of different companies are illustrated through a diagram:- Figure 1 (Source: pugetsoundoff, n.d.). Presently information technology is widely used in restaurant industry. The companies get hugely benefited through the proper execution of information system. The primary advantage of using information technology retail restaurant industry is that it gives a competitive advantage to the orga nization. The other advantage of using information technology in business lies in its capability to transmit data around the world within very less time. The industry is focusing more on IT to take advantage from it. The