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Black Box Intelligence

Learn what it is and how it can help you

What is Black Box intelligence?

Black Box Intelligence (BBI) is data that's collected from private and public restaurants and aggregated at the market, state, and national levels. Black Box used indexes created for each three-digit zip code to measure sales in the restaurant industry for comparative purposes.

What does Black Box Intelligence help me do?

Within SiteZeus, Black Box Intelligence will help you answer three key questions:

  • Which markets are associated with higher or lower average unit volumes (AUVs)?
  • How many brands exceed their national AUV in a market?
  • How does my brand's AUV compare to competitors' AUVs in the same market? 

Black Box Intelligence data specs

Within SiteZeus, you can filter restaurants using three categories:

  • Counter Service: Places where you order at a counter (or equivalent) and then find a place to sit if dining in. Your meal may be delivered to you or handed to you at the counter. All quick-service and fast-casual restaurants fall into the counter-service category.
  • Table Service: Family, casual, upscale-casual, and fine dining. Some people call it full service. In these restaurants, a server takes your order and you can order alcohol at the table.
  • Industry: All restaurants

Each category has the following indices for every three-digit zip code:

  • Minimum: The lowest percentage of their national AUV that brands are achieving 
  • Average: The average percentage of their national AUV that brands are achieving
  • Maximum: The maximum percentage of their national AUV that brands are achieving
  • Percentage of brands over average: The percentage of brands performing above their national AUV

 

Access BBI data via the heat map

  1. Turn on the heat map from the main map screen.
  2. In the heat map panel, a category and index to map for the three-digit zip codes. Refer to the legend for the values associated with each color.
BBI Heatmap

Tips:

  • Be sure to zoom out so you can see the data, which is at the 3-digit zip code level.
  • Remember that everything is relative. You can have a very large, rural area with a high index outside of a smaller, urban area with a lower index because there are more brands, and therefore more competition, in the city.

 

Access BBI data via the Reporting Wizard

Select the Sales Comps category.
BBI Report Select Category