Creatively Increase Revenue
What can your restaurants do in these times where people are tightening their belts?
While there's no cookie cutter answer for everyone, here are a few things to consider:
Upselling: Make sure you’re taking advantage of upselling options available via your online ordering provider. There are a couple of ways to optimize that feature. Also talk to your suppliers. They often have marketing dollars and can kick back some money your way when you highlight their food/drink.
Bulk Discounts: Offer family sized meals and include how many people the meal serves in the description. That allows the customer to calculate the cost per person and understand how good the deal is. Make sure you calculate your COGS so you're still making money on the proposition and make sure it’s easy for the kitchen to execute. Consider adding appetizers or desserts with a high margin to "sweeten" the deal. If you're concerned that this could cheapen your image, use phrases like "Exclusive Offer", "Limited Time Offer", "Exceptional Value" or "Sophisticated Savings".
Optimize Slow Times: Look at latent capacity. Are there hours or days of the week where your sales volume is low but you can't cut anyone? Offer specials on those days or times. If your lunch is slow, consider working with Foodsby or Fooda to drum up some corporate & office lunches. Foodsby also allows you to add flyers or coupons to entice repeat and DIRECT guests. Slow between lunch and dinner? Maybe consider offering an "Early Bird" Special between 2 & 4. Market to older or college-aged patrons. Or if Tuesdays are slow offer "Tacoless Tuesdays" where you offer some discounted items. Not everyone can eat tacos every Tuesday, right?
Partnerships: Consider coupon app cooperation. Partner with companies that offer small discounts like Ibotta, Inc. or Rakuten. For college kids look to UNiDAYS. Restaurant offerings are slim on some of them so there's not a ton of competition yet.
Use what you’ve already got: Use Your App! Push a reminder of how great your burgers are about 1 - 2 hours before lunch time. People are hungry and a picture of a juicy burger could do the trick. Offering a small discount can make it a little more appetizing.
Keep things fresh: Make your inventory work for you. Do you have to move a bunch of turkey while it’s still good? Make a limited time offer on turkey sandwiches or turkey sandwich lunchboxes to make some room in your freezer.
These are just a few things that can help your restaurant THRIVE. The thing I love most about restauranteurs is their creativity and ingenuity. If these don't work, I'm sure you all have some tricks up your sleeve. What cool ideas have you come up with?