Unit Growth is a rolling comparison of a Concept’s monthly verified unit count—as confirmed directly from its public-facing website—with that of the website six (6) months ago.

Note: Restaurantology requires a minimum of six previously-verified unit counts before forecasting unit growth.

Unit Growth is a picklist field with the following values:

• Rapid Growth: Unit growth exceeds a sliding-scale percentage growth determined by its market segment.
• Positive Growth: Current month’s verified unit count is higher than it was 6 months ago, however it does not qualify as rapid growth.
• No Growth: Current month’s verified unit count is the same as it was 6 months ago.
• Negative Growth: Current month’s verified unit count is lower than it was 6 months ago.

Calculation

Unit growth is calculated as a percentage change (Δ) over time, and can be positive or negative. Unit change is verified directly from candidate websites, meaning any new stores added (e.g. “coming soon” locations) or removed will result in an updated monthly Unit Growth calculation.

The difference between positive and rapid growth is based on the percent change during a given measurement period, where its related market segment determines by what percent it needs to grow to be determined “rapid” growth.

Interpretation

There are two factors to keep in mind when reviewing a Unit Growth calculation:

1. Subjectivity of unit counts
2. Frame of reference

[1] Subjectivity of unit counts

Because each brand can ultimately choose when to add or remove units from their website, be they temporary or permanent changes, it’s important to exercise caution when reviewing Unit Growth details at both micro and macro levels.

[2] Frame of reference

Concepts looking to franchise or grow quickly may be hesitant to remove locations that are permanently closed from their website. Thus, looking exclusively at Unit Growth, which may appear positive, without considering how many verified closed units the brand has accumulated may lead to a misinterpretation or misrepresentation of their strength, trajectory, or overall market presence. When applicable, we recommend using Restaurantology’s Inferred Status, which blends recent openings with historical closures to plot thousands on brands on a standardize growth trajectory.

Using Growth as a filter field

Unit Growth is available in both the Restaurantology Chrome extension and CRM integration products, where relevant fields can be viewed on Concept profiles and records, and can be incorporated into “Trend” filters for advanced searches and restaurant industry reverse look-ups.