There are those times during the year when selling is just difficult, no matter what you do. Every restaurant owner would love to see his or her restaurant packed with customers, with orders building up, plates pouring out of the kitchen, ready to be given to clients, and yes, with sales surging! However, gloomy restaurant days are indeed a norm for most. Most restaurants have days with extremely low sales, fewer walk-ins, fewer delivery orders, and overall, very uninteresting sales money.
Nevertheless, there are things you can do to lessen their impact on your bottom line even though there isn’t much you can do at certain times of the year.
Here Are 6 Strategies to Overcome Slow Days at Restaurants:
1. Plan Target Campaigns
On slower days, you can set up your weekly promotional programs. You can plan reward schemes for your restaurants as well as marketing initiatives. An excellent illustration of this would be to implement a promotion like “Mexican Tuesdays,” which would encourage families to eat out Mexican food on a Tuesday night rather than preparing meals at home on Tuesdays, which are typically slow days. You can gather adequate consumer information with the aid of restaurant management software to develop efficient and precisely focused marketing campaigns. Additionally, you can notify customers via text message about discounts and special deals.
2. Establishing Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs for people are a terrific approach to fostering relationships and generating repeat business. Instead of always looking for new customers, it can be far simpler to get repeat customers. An excellent method to keep your business in front of the neighborhood’s residents is to create a loyalty program that provides special rewards and discounts for clients in your zip code. For example, having a points system or punch cards would be great ways to improve dull restaurant days.
3. Promoting Online Ordering
60% of U.S. consumers order delivery or takeout once a week. Due to the shift to off-premises dining, establishments like yours must adapt their business practices to meet customer preferences. One of the easiest and most effective ways to capture online sales is to make your online ordering platform easier to find and use. Ensuring that your website, social media accounts, online ordering system, and appropriate restaurant promotion are all visible such as on table menus, bathroom signs, and even on the receipt is key to boosting your online sales. Additionally, it will raise knowledge of your online ordering procedure among diners who were previously strangers.
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4. Have Themed Events
Having a unique event or themed night that customers can find fun and engaging regardless of whether it is Monday or Tuesday is an intriguing way to boost sales during these slow days. Two excellent suggestions for these events include TV-themed nights, where your restaurant could show the most recent episode of a comedy or another TV show on Netflix. Wow! When you combine that with a special promotion like “buy 2 get 1 free” you’ll have customers rushing to your restaurant in no time!
5. Exclusive Weekend Offers
To promote customer visits on slow days at the restaurant, exclusive weekday discounts should be introduced! An interesting illustration of this is how Barbeque Nation, a well-known restaurant chain, charges less for its midweek buffet than for its weekend buffet. POS systems will give you reports for each item sold or in stock based on your previous sales history. You can adjust the prices or fiddle with special deals and promotions on certain things based on how well they perform. Food items have higher profit margins than liquor items, but it would be a fantastic idea to use bargain pricing on weekdays to encourage more dine-in business.
6. Go Crazy On Social Media
Up your social media output on Facebook, Instagram, and all other platforms. Utilize your imagination. Announcing specials online, soliciting menu item suggestions from the public, and offering promos are excellent strategies for thriving during your slow months. Making Facebook events and posting entertaining images of various events is a terrific method to inform prospective consumers about what is happening at your restaurant as well. This would help create a lot of engagement and make it the last strategy to overcome slow days at restaurants.
Overall, there you have it! 6 strategies you can use to brighten up those dull business days at your restaurant.
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Want your own self-ordering kiosk? Check which one is best for your restaurant.