In this episode of the Smarter Sourcing podcast, John speaks with Bobby Lavan, CFO at Bowlero Corporation. They discuss Bowlero’s procurement strategy, how its various vendors have been built up over 27 years, its decentralized approach, and how they’re consolidating for cost efficiencies. They also talk about the challenges of implementing technology, why they’re focused on performance marketing, and why personalization is the future of entertainment.

Topics discussed:

• How Bowlero has managed their procurement streams that have been built up over 27 years.
• Why they encourage everyone with a hand in procurement to think about spending every dollar as if it’s their own.
• The challenge of technology implementation, and whether it’s a cost center or an efficiency driver.
• Bowlero’s decentralized approach to procurement and how they track every dollar.
• Why technology companies and their changing pricing strategies keep Bobby up at night.
• Why personalization powered by technology will shape the future of customer experiences.
• Why they’re focused on performance marketing and practices that drive returns.

 Guest Quotes: 

“Ultimately, a lot of Bowlero’s procurement has been built up over 27 years, whereas I came in and I saw an opportunity to sort of consolidate all of our purchasing, all of our expenses that, frankly, a few percentage points here, few percentage points there, add up to millions of dollars.”

“Would you spend this dollar if it was your money? The second that they believe that and they’re incentivized appropriately to that, they will find savings everywhere.”

“Every dollar we spend, both on the capital side and on the expense side — there should be a justification, a return, and a constant grind to bring it down.”

“The key right now is technology. The family entertainment business has been behind restaurants and personalization of what we offer you. … That personalization is the next frontier of entertainment.”

Get in touch with Bobby Lavan:  

LinkedIn 

Website 

Get in touch with John Pavia: 

LinkedIn