Digital Dining Dilemma: Platr's EU Expansion

The case invites students to step into the role of Phoebe Gabris, a newly hired MBA graduate and senior analyst at Platr Inc., a US-based cloud point-of-sale (POS) provider for the restaurant industry. Tasked with recommending a European market for Platr’s first international expansion, Gabris must choose between Estonia and Italy—two markets with vastly different digital, cultural, and economic landscapes. Along the way, she also considers a third, unexpected option: Ireland. The case challenges students to integrate and interpret both qualitative and quantitative data—from government statistics and market forecasts to cultural observations and managerial considerations—while evaluating the strategic fit of each market. In addition to the written case, a structured dataset supplement is provided, encouraging students to perform their own data analysis to support and refine their recommendations. This case aims to help students strengthen their analytical reasoning, data visualization, narrative-building, and decision-making skills. It also provides a platform to experiment with different approaches to persuasive data storytelling depending on the specific data and its context. The case is suitable for courses in strategy, data visualization and storytelling, analytics, and global market entry.