Competitor menu analysis integration

Purpose

1.1. Aggregate and analyze competitors’ menu data from the web to monitor trends in Algerian cuisine offerings in the restaurant industry.
1.2. Provide actionable insights regarding pricing, new dishes, allergens, dietary trends, ingredient sourcing, and promotional strategies.
1.3. Continuously update dashboards and reports with structured competitor menu information for data-driven business decisions.

Trigger Conditions

2.1. Scheduled interval (e.g., daily at midnight) triggers automated menu data scraping.
2.2. Detection of new competitor menus or changes in existing competitor websites.
2.3. Specific competitor added to tracking list or industry trend alert.

Platform Variants

3.1. Google Custom Search API
• Function: Web search competitor menus
• Setting: API key, query="Algerian restaurant menus", site restrict
3.2. SerpAPI
• Function: Scrape Google search results
• Setting: Engine="google", q="Algerian restaurant menu", location
3.3. ScraperAPI
• Function: Bypass anti-bot mechanisms on menu sites
• Setting: Endpoint, API key, target competitor URLs
3.4. ParseHub
• Function: Scrape structured menu content
• Setting: Project template for extracting menus
3.5. Apify
• Function: Schedule and manage menu scraping actor
• Setting: Run actor="restaurant-menu-extractor", input URLs
3.6. Diffbot
• Function: Auto-parse page types; extract menu sections
• Setting: API token, analyze competitor URL, extraction fields
3.7. Import.io
• Function: Visual point-and-click menu extraction
• Setting: Connector setup for target restaurant sites
3.8. MonkeyLearn
• Function: Text analysis for dish categorization
• Setting: Custom classifier, input raw scraped text
3.9. AWS Textract
• Function: OCR for menu images/PDFs
• Setting: Upload file, define extraction jobs, parse JSON output
3.10. Google Vision API
• Function: Menu text extraction from images
• Setting: Feature type=TEXT_DETECTION, project credentials
3.11. Azure Cognitive Services
• Function: Image-to-text for scanned menus
• Setting: Vision API endpoint, resource key
3.12. Airtable
• Function: Store extracted menu data in relational format
• Setting: API, "Menus" table, fields (dish, price, competitor, date)
3.13. Google Sheets API
• Function: Populate menus into central sheets
• Setting: Service account, sheet name, columns for analysis
3.14. Tableau REST API
• Function: Auto-update analytics dashboards
• Setting: POST /api/data, connect menu data feed
3.15. Power BI API
• Function: Sync menu data for visualization
• Setting: Dataset push, workspace integration
3.16. Slack API
• Function: Send alerts for competitor menu changes
• Setting: Incoming webhook, custom message formatting
3.17. Microsoft Teams API
• Function: Notify staff of key menu trends
• Setting: Channel webhook, structured cards
3.18. Zapier
• Function: Workflow orchestration between services
• Setting: Zap—trigger=scrape, action=notify
3.19. Jira REST API
• Function: Create tasks for significant competitor findings
• Setting: POST /issue, summary/detail from menu change
3.20. MongoDB Atlas
• Function: Store raw menu extraction logs
• Setting: Database connection string, collections by competitor
3.21. Elasticsearch
• Function: Searchable menu repository for fast analysis
• Setting: Index creation, ingest scraped menu records
3.22. AWS Lambda
• Function: Custom ETL for menu data cleaning and enrichment
• Setting: Trigger on scrape, deploy with transformation code

Benefits

4.1. Real-time view of competitor menu updates supports agile pricing/menu changes.
4.2. Reduces manual research efforts by centralizing and automating data gathering.
4.3. Enables granular, rapid response to emerging food trends and dish innovations.
4.4. Periodic and reactive triggers ensure up-to-date competitor intelligence at all times.
4.5. Integration with analytics platforms boosts reporting accuracy and strategic visibility.