Are you leaving cash opportunities on the table? With penny-pinching patrons entering their restaurants in January, owners are compelled to find creative ways to increase sales at a spend-per-head level. So how can you tempt your visitors to spend more this January and beyond?
If you’re looking to get more customers through the doors first, see our post on ways to increase restaurant footfall.
Get smart with messaging
Your menu is your number one tool to increase sales and entire books have been written about menu construction. One takeaway is descriptive menu wording works better than plain Jane wording, especially with more expensive dishes. Would you rather have the ‘succulent Italian half lobster with roasted garlic chimichurri butter’ or the ‘buttered half lobster’?
But what about when your menu isn’t there to do the talking, or you don’t have room on the blackboard for fanciful descriptions? Get mouth-watering descriptions in front of your customers with a little help from digital messaging. Deliver messages promoting your newest dish or a menu offer in real-time via your customer’s preferred channel with digital messaging tools.
You can even build script-based automated SMS campaigns to enable smart messaging, which allows graphic templates and short codes to improve response and conversion rate. With real-time reactivity you can send impulse campaigns, such as lunch time pushes when footfall may be lower midweek, and adapt campaigns based on real-time performance.
Use digital messaging to inform customers of offers
“Would you like fries with that?” is synonymous of package deals. Whether or not you’re offering a burger with fries and a drink, bundling is a tried and tested way to increase sales. The effectiveness of bundling can be tested out on consumer segments using digital messaging. With digital messaging software you can send hyper-relevant promotions via SMS, email or push notification to qualified customers – such as those who frequently purchase a particular dish.
Cultivate Customer Loyalty
In today’s connected world there’s no shortage of places customers can buy what you’re selling. If you’ve already followed our recommendations for building customer loyalty it’s time to use your most loyal customers to your advantage. Invite regular customers to try a new premium menu item before anyone else. This will allow you to see how successful a premium dish is likely to be and will make your loyal customers feel valued as part of this experience. Better still, if they like what they taste your loyal customers are likely to pay the higher price for that item on their next visit.
Leverage Customer Data
If you’re analysing your sales you’ll know your average customer spend. But do you know what percentage of your customers buy certain items? Unless you know customer X has ordered your mushroom risotto 3 times and customer Y sometimes orders kids’ meals, you won’t know where you’re losing out on sales opportunities. By collecting customer data you can tailor offers and promotions to individual customers or segments based on their past purchases. Highly targeted personalisation increases sales and can be executed through platforms like Eagle Eye Promote.
Looking for an all-in-one promotions solution? Discover Eagle Eye AIR for promotions, messaging, loyalty and gift card programmes.