Gourmet-Focused Influencer Platform "Unit" Achieves 42.9% Engagement Rate for Hanshin Umeda's "Laofuutsai," Boosting Dinner Traffic

The gourmet-focused influencer platform "Unit," operated by UNIT Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Takeshi Okano), has been introduced to "Laofuutsai Hanshin Department Store Umeda Main Store," operated by Meikakachuka Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture), achieving significant results, including an engagement rate of 42.9%. ■ Implementation Background "Laofuutsai Hanshin Department Store Umeda Main Store" is a commercial facility store opened as a branch of the authentic Chinese restaurant "Laofuutsai," which has a history of over 15 years in Kobe, on the 9th floor restaurant area, Hanshin Grand Dining, of the Hanshin Umeda Main Store. Due to its location on a department store's restaurant floor, it had strong customer traffic during lunchtime but faced challenges in increasing traffic during dinner hours. Additionally, with a renewal of the operational structure, acquiring new customers was an urgent task. Although it was their first attempt at influencer marketing, they learned about "Unit" through a referral and were attracted by the ability to continuously post on SNS at a low cost with a flat-rate system, leading to their decision to implement it. ▼ Implemented Store Details Store Name: Laofuutsai Hanshin Department Store Umeda Main Store. Operating Company: Meikakachuka Co., Ltd. Address: 9F Hanshin Grand Dining, 1-13-13 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka. WEB: https://www.lao-fuu-tsaii.co.jp/ Phone: 06-6345-0953. ■ Implementation Effects The introduction of "Unit" achieved the following results: Achieved an engagement rate of 42.9%: Over 40% of people who saw the posts took action such as 'liking' or saving, a result significantly above average. This shows that the posts were not just 'scrolled past' but resonated strongly with viewers. Impressions were 4.5 times the reach: Data confirmed that users who saw the posts viewed them repeatedly, indicating they were interested enough to look back, not just see it once and move on. Ranked high in searches for keywords like "Umeda Chinese": The accumulation of engagement made it easier to appear in recommended hashtag searches, strengthening the search-driven traffic. Increased dinner-time visits: By issuing tickets for a course available at both lunch and dinner, influencers introduced it in various contexts. This changed the customer flow from visiting at a certain time to visiting for a specific dish they wanted to eat, leading to an increase in dinner-time visits. ■ Client's Voice During the period we had influencers promoting for us, the course they posted about sold much better than before. We received many reports from on-site staff, such as "customers were looking at SNS when deciding on the menu" and "we heard the word 'Insta' in customer conversations," so I realized it was actually helping to attract customers. I believe influencer marketing is currently the fastest and broadest way to get information to customers. Being able to confirm the concrete effects with this data has made me feel that it is becoming indispensable as a future customer acquisition strategy. In fact, we are scheduled to open a new store in the Hanshin Department Store's food hall (food court format) next month. I feel that influencer marketing will be most effective at the opening of a new store. This track record is the biggest testament to our trust in Unit. *Please see the following article for details. Article URL: https://service.unit-g.com/case/032/ ■ Direct Value Proposition of "Unit": Continuous promotion with a monthly flat rate: Unlimited requests to influencers from 30,000 yen per month. You can request posts continuously for new menu announcements or campaign notices, maintaining visibility on SNS. Requests to gourmet influencers matching the business area: "Unit" has a large number of gourmet-focused influencers living within the store's business area. This allows for selecting influencers active in that area to create posts that resonate with the target audience. Prevent mismatches with direct offers: The store side can check influencers' profiles and past posts to make direct offers to those who match the store's atmosphere and concept. This prevents mismatches like "hiring an influencer who doesn't fit our store." ■ Other Value Propositions: In addition, "Unit" offers the following functions and effects: Simultaneous deployment on multiple SNS: Post requests can be made on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter). Utilizing multiple media incurs no additional charges, achieving a broad reach. Performance measurement with post reports: For Instagram, the report function allows checking the reach and engagement of posts. This visualizes the effects and helps in planning the next measures. Supports multi-store expansion: With the corporate plan, one company can make unlimited requests for any brand or store within the monthly fixed fee. This allows for more cost-effective operation for companies with multiple stores. ■ About 'Unit': "Unit" is an influencer PR business developed by UNIT. With the mission of "filling stores with people who love the store," it supports customer acquisition for restaurants and food brands through gourmet-focused influencer PR. About "Unit"'s services: (1) Influencer Platform: A platform that matches restaurants with gourmet-focused influencers. Restaurants can request PR from influencers from a flat rate of 30,000 yen per month, and it is widely used by individual stores to multi-store enterprises. (2) Custom Design and Operational Support: A custom PR measure that provides comprehensive support from selecting carefully chosen influencers to content creation and performance measurement, tailored to each client's challenges and brand characteristics. In this initiative, we are promoting the cognitive expansion and customer acquisition of Biergarten Miami through this custom design and operational support. See Details ■ Case Studies Example. ■ About UNIT Inc.: Company Name: UNIT Inc. Location: 3-13-12 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. Representative: Takeshi Okano, Representative Director. Established: 2011. Business Content: Planning, development, and operation of food service-specialized owned media, food service-specialized customer acquisition consulting support, planning, development, and operation of the gourmet-focused influencer platform "Unit." Official Website: https://unit-g.com/