What restaurant actions are effective?

Stocks in cafes and restaurants are a way to increase the flow of visitors to the institution and make their visits regular, as well as increase profits during the period of sales decline.
Shares in the public catering are launched at different stages of the institution’s development:

  • During the opening of the institution – the promotion promotes attracting visitors and creating a customer base.
  • When introducing a permanent menu of new dishes or temporary positions and when conducting re-branding in the institution.
  • During the decline in income – the shares are used to raise the average check, the turnover of the institution and the urgent increase in revenue.

    • First of all, the shares are created to increase the number of visitors and the amount of orders. But the constant launch of shares gives a less noticeable result in revenue, and besides, in the future because of this, you can not expect a sharp increase in turnover in critical situations, when the institution will have a noticeable decline in sales.

    Do not forget about the risks. Increase the size of the discount gradually, so you achieve a balance in the profitability of the conduct of the shares.

    How to create shares in cafes and restaurants. 
    The second name of the shares in the restaurant business is “special offers”. There are three most effective tools for creating such proposals:

    The motivation for action is what needs to be done here and now. Specific task for the visitor to obtain the desired benefits. For example, come today, call back on the phone, leave an application in groups of social networks or on the site of the institution. Such a call should sound clearly, without hidden meanings and subtext, as, for example: “if you have a desire, you can …”, etc. This guarantees instant results and benefits for the owner.

    Advantageous offer which will help to make the choice of the visitor towards your institution. For example, a couple wants to spend a romantic dinner and plans to buy a bottle of expensive wine. But, here with dessert they are not yet determined, do not want to spend extra money. The solution to this problem: when ordering an elite wine, as a gift – two special desserts from the chef, which are not on the menu (ice cream with fruits, tiramis according to your recipe, etc.). Whether it is necessary to remind, that you order alcohol from suppliers at discounts, and it – one of the most высокомаржинальных positions in your menu.

    Artificial restriction is applicable everywhere and always. If there is no restriction, the special offer ceases to be unique. The reason and reason for introducing any restrictions can be: birthday (both client and institution), seasonality, week of a certain dish, etc.

    Limitations can be:

  • By the number of visitors. Only for couples, for large companies of 4+ people, only the first 20 visitors, etc.
  • By menu categories. Only when ordering a certain drink or dish, only for soups or pizzas, etc.
  • Temporary. By days of the week, from 10:00 to 13:00 and by season, for example, only in the summer.
  • On special dates. Birthday, holidays, “year with us”, according to the frequency of visits, for example, the client came to you for the 10th time, or by the status of the client in the loyalty system.

    • Try to use the words: “special offer”, “gift”, etc. The options “free” and “discount” are more suitable for retail, and not for the public catering sector. Below we will consider the most popular variants of special offers for catering.

    Coupons
    Never make discounts on the whole menu, otherwise it will be able to bankrupt you. People will come to you to the institution once because of the big discount, but not to return to normal prices. This effect reduces the meaning of such shares to zero. In addition, you frighten off your regular visitors, giving privileges to armor tables, etc. such “amateurs of shares”. It is highly discouraged to cooperate with coupons and similar services, except that only during the promotion of a certain category of dishes.

    Unlimited
    Effective and popular in recent times, especially for beer restaurants and pubs. You can afford this type of special offers institution only with favorable and preferential terms from suppliers and the availability of a good flow of visitors. Mutually beneficial cooperation – the institution provides a stable high sales volume, and suppliers give a special discount, which depends on these volumes. In addition, you still get profit when ordering high-margin menu items that are not part of the “no limit”.

    Set-menu
    Business lunches, lunches, breakfasts, suppers at a special price. They can also include a special menu for birthdays or corporate parties and offers for the number of people at one table. Provide constant flow of visitors in unpopular time. As a result, you evenly fill working time and profitably use your resources.

    2 + 1
    Increases the amount of the order. Works great for expanding the customer base with loyalty programs. Also, this is a good solution for selling dishes that are in sets or in great demand: breakfasts, lunches, alcoholic drinks, etc. For example, 5 business lunches and 1 as a gift.

    Announcements of shares, advertising
    If you think that just running a stock in your institution will be enough for a successful campaign, then this is far from the case. Potential visitors should find out about your promotional offers, for this you need to submit advertising information. Decide on your target audience, the budget for the ad campaign, and use one or more of the following methods:

  • participation in aggregation of sites-coupons;
  • e-mailing;
  • publication of shares on its own website, groups in social networks;
  • distribution of flyers on the street in front of the institution or in shopping centers;
  • outdoor advertising.

    • Remember, all your special offers must be pre-competently planned and “promoted”, otherwise the results will quickly upset you and you just waste your money and lose stable profit.

    Some statistics
    The use of different types of shares in restaurants and cafes varies depending on the sex of the visitors, social and age groups. If you trust research, then:

  • Coupons are the most favorite kind of shares. 85% of respondents are ready to take advantage of those received in the institution, cut out of magazines or bought coupons!
  • 59% of respondents between 18 and 34 prefer Internet shares to all other types, and 53% of them use shares from social media resources.
  • Traditional flyers, booklets and announcements of new dishes on the menu are not against getting 68% of respondents, the same percentage of respondents aged 18-34 years are really interested in shares in local institutions.
  • At the expense of gender orientation: 74% of women surveyed actively use special offers in cafes and restaurants, at the same time, for the male, this figure is 59%.

    • Setting up shares in the automation system
    Holding shares without an internal accounting system is a very thankless task, and sometimes even impossible. Is that, some very simple options, like a fixed price for a business lunch.
    And to build an interesting and selling promotional offer is possible only with the use of automation systems.
    Do not forget that the introduction of shares, can greatly increase the chance of theft from your staff. It is during the introduction of shares that cashiers and waiters usually think through clever schemes to deceive the owner, abusing their rights and acting in bad faith. Fortunately, thanks to the accounting system, it will be almost impossible to do this, which is another reason for the introduction of such a system in the work of your institution.

    Eventually
    Stocks – this is an integral part of the marketing program of the institution, and if properly configured and implemented, you will at times increase the flow of visitors and turnover of your institution. Nevertheless, to enter shares is limited and reasonable, gradually testing special offers on different groups of visitors and choosing the optimal solutions.

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