The restaurant industry has become very competitive, making it challenging for restaurants to stay always at the lead of the curve. But that does not mean that your restaurant cannot have a brand name in the market and become lucrative.
You just need to integrate a few things with the right strategy and execution in the proper manner.
So, if you are looking for different ways to augment restaurant sales, you are at the right place. Restaurant owners must be thinking about ‘how to grow my restaurant business?’ In this particular article, we will discuss some easy ways to gain more market value and attract consumers with increased sales of a restaurant.
Be accessible on all food online delivery apps
It’s a fact that free online food ordering apps have brought an immaculate revolution in the Food and Business industry. The food delivery apps have given this amazing opportunity to many small-scale and large-scale restaurants to reach the audience through their mobile phone.
Just with simple few clicks on the app, one can find any type of cuisine to give satisfaction to their taste buds. Moreover, the home delivery option is like a cherry on top.
Every day, these portals see a glut of orders coming their way which gives huge exposure to the restaurants.
If you want to know how to grow a restaurant business in 2022, you should register your business on these portals to serve your customers in a better way. Make sure your restaurant profile should be up to the mark on these portals. All your menus should be enlisted properly with categories.
By doing this, your dishes will flash in the results when the consumer searches for similar dishes.
Have a safety badge
Safety badge is a necessity in the restaurant industry. It is a certification denoting that you follow all the safety measures as per the government rules. It also includes regular sanitization of the place, usage of gloves during the preparation of food, wearing of a mask, and many other things.
This safety badge is another aspect that customers look for in restaurants while placing an order for food or dining. It is a supplementary client faith custody factor.
All online food ordering systems have started this trend. If you have omitted the badge on your website or listing, you must get one. All these portals allow you to get connected with a wider audience with not much effort.
But of course, these orders will come to you through a third party and you have to pay a commission for that. It is also worth trying to increase the sales of your restaurant.
Have a Google business listing
Google processes over 50,000 search queries almost every second on average which translates to over 3 billion searches per day.
Apart from these facts, why having your restaurant listed on Google is important:
* Everyone’s first-ever preference is Google. The majority of people would search for restaurants on this platform whenever they are searching for new places.
* The advanced technology has benefited tech-savvy consumers with voice assistants search on Google, Alexa, and many other platforms. Below are some examples that tell you how having a Google business list helps these assistants find you:
Customer: OK Google, which is the best restaurant near my location?
Google: Here is the list of some popular restaurants near your place
1, 2, 3, 4…..
Customer: Ok Google, check the timings of the first option
Google: Sure, the opening time of the restaurant is from 11 AM to 10 PM
Sometimes, People also find the location on Google maps to know the right way. So, all these reasons make Google Business listing top of your priority.
Having your restaurant listed on Google is a no- brainer. Just with a few clicks, mention all the details like contact number, address, hours, menu, directions, images, and also accessibility to reserve a table.
A well-established Google Business listing can help in portraying important information to the audience before they even visit your website. And the best part is, it is FREE! So one can easily reach the audience in a better way to attract more and more customers and increase restaurant sales.
Create blogs and have a website
Even in this technical world, most restaurants don’t believe in having a website for their business. Mainly, because they already have enough consumers. It is a myth that without an online presence your business will grow.
These days, no business can grow without an online presence and you won’t even realize the major impact of having a website for your restaurant unless you experience it by yourself.
For instance, if any of your friends or relatives recommend a restaurant, the very first step will be to search online and look for the website. Through the website, you can also provide the basic information to your consumers that one may need to know such as directions, hours, cuisines, payment methods, and much more.
You can also keep consumers aware of any offers, gift cards or promotions like lunch deals, festive menus, combo packs, and even happy hour services. If you don’t have an attractive menu in your restaurant, then it is time to upgrade it by using various POS software available.
Providing ready and steady information solves a lot of questions that consumers might have in their minds. Thereby it saves a lot of time and effort for your staff members.
So this is all about brand awareness and why one should have a website. Creating good content will get you more online traffic. Putting more content will attract your target audience to visit your website eventually and frequently and it will gradually increase your restaurant sales.
Organize workshops and events
This is the most underrated idea to boost your sales through workshops and events. In this, you can collaborate with food festivals and with various events or you can also host your event. All such events will expand your horizon to increase sales and attract more customers.
There are many famous food festivals organized every year in various countries like the pizza festival in Italy, and the bacon fest in California, they have an enormous crowd visiting them. These are all international food festivals and it is not mandatory that you have to participate in these festivals.
You can also consider participating in local, state, and country-level events. All these events give a golden ticket to showcase your special delicacies and attract the audience more essentially.
Also, if you are a patisserie or bakery person, you can plan cupcake workshops, especially for little ones or you can also invite the customers to come and taste the new cupcakes for free. Apart from this, you can also organize charity events or fundraisers that will bring you into the limelight and can also bring more and more customers to your place.
Endorse through virtual media
Whenever people go to any restaurant or want to order online, they mainly choose food based on the photos. If the dish looks appealing then the customers go through the content and order it directly. This implies that strong visuals are the critical aspect of making the right decision.
What you see is what you get: these strategies can help you improve restaurant sales in 2022. The best part is that it is super easy to employ and also free of cost. You just have to click some high-quality images to upload them on the portal or other social media platforms and enhance them through some editing tools.
Many food bloggers on Instagram constantly look after active social restaurants and put them on their pages for promotion purposes. These bloggers visit the restaurants and share their personal experiences with the audience. So it is always a win-win situation for us, it gives a free promotion across all the social media websites and good visibility as well.
Another way is to record videos and upload them. After the pandemic, winning customers’ attention is a tough task. By using video content, you can also be a step ahead of others.
Apply a sturdy marketing policy
Marketing your restaurant business is an important aspect on a daily basis. Certainly, in present times, you must have several marketing strategies to apply for your restaurant business. But you have to check whether you are giving the longing results or not.
In the new competitive world, you cannot expect to use old market strategies; you need to apply innovative ideas for high growth. Adopt contemporary ways to market your restaurant business like Google Ads, Facebook, and many more. You have to gear up your social media for steady market growth.
Try e-mail marketing, and SMS marketing also to get the attention of your customers.
Try diverse menus
It is an undeniable fact that FOOD IS THE HEART OF ANY RESTAURANT. No matter how much effort you put into marketing your business, if your food is not good you cannot win the hearts of your customers.
You just can’t compromise on the quality of your food. It is not necessary to have a 5-star chef in your restaurant but you can at least try to figure out what the customer prefers from the restaurant’s menu. Also, try to maintain a catchy menu for your audience to provide them with unique and maximum options to choose from.
An updated menu and a well-presented menu can be a fundamental choice for an improved restaurant business. Other than that, make your restaurant interesting by adding some unique delicacies to your menu, providing them with a good ambiance, great music, and top-class service.
Add seasonal dishes to the menu to also improve the restaurant sales in every season. After the pandemic, most people are suffering from health issues and you can consider including healthy dishes in your menu or have a separate keto menu for health-conscious people.
All these steps are very small but the impact they give is very big in increasing your restaurant sales. The reason can be seasonal menus to attract your previous customers to try out different dishes and also encourage their friends and family to visit your restaurant.
Reorganize your loyalty curriculum
Even today, restaurant loyalty programs have not lost their charm. If organized smartly, then these programs can help you strike a home run. Always keep a record of the customers visiting your restaurants regularly and ask them to get themselves enrolled in the loyalty program. These programs work best to increase customers.
Make sure that your loyalty program has something real to attract customers. Such as:
- 3- Year membership program, in which the customers can avail 10% discount on every bill
- 1- Year membership program, in which the customers can take a free beverage on every order
- Provide them with exciting discounts, food coupons, and reward points when they visit your restaurant
Loyalty programs work like magic for restaurants facing problems in their sales.
Want to know how to increase restaurant business? Incorporate gift vouchers in the loyalty program and provide gift vouchers to your customers.
Many restaurants choose these vouchers to increase their sales during the festive time. Restaurants providing buffet systems tend to have maximum benefit from them. The gift vouchers can be inclusive of many offers like 2nd meal free, buffet free for the couple, and special discounts on bills during special occasions like anniversaries and birthdays.
All these strategies can help you in retaining customers. You can also choose to launch these vouchers in association with many other vendors, such as paid access to offer discounts for customers ordering online food, as a reward for customers participating in local events, etc.
Try fundraising and charity events and it will bring you in limelight and can also bring more customers to your table.
Pro tip: in this technical era, get rid of physical loyalty cards. Opt for cashless with digital cards. If managing a loyalty program is a task for you then you can also opt for loyalty program software. With these programs, you can also increase your brand value and customers and eventually your business as well.
Start promotions for different seasons and festivals
Offers, promotions, and discounts are undisputed ways to attract customers. It is a proven technique to increase your sales in any season. To run your business efficiently, you can start two types of promotions:
Special day promotions, festivals, and seasons: you must be running various promotions in past years but try to give them a makeover by picking up local holidays, running discounts and special day offers on these days. Try out your hands on unusual days like International food day, Mother’s day, and Women’s day.
Focus on good ambiance
Good ambiance plays a major role these days in the restaurant business. Food is the first priority but the ambiance is also equally important. Having a good ambiance doesn’t mean spending thousands of dollars on your restaurant.
Making it a more photographic place and lavish interiors is not the priority. But, cleanliness and good service with hygienic sitting will attract your customers to visit your restaurant on a daily basis.
A vintage theme restaurant with colorful walls will make it a more attractive place to enjoy the food. It plays a major role in growing your sales. After cleanliness, you can have good music by having a guitarist or live music around your dine-in area. You should also see that the dining area is spacious and comfortable enough.
Play with the lights of your restaurant to give a lively effect. These days many restaurants are designed on themes based like Game of Thrones, Friends, and Stranger Things. Whatever changes you opt for, don’t forget to endorse them on your social media handles and website. An appealing ambiance has all the capability to attract customers on a daily basis.
Redesign your sitting space
Social distancing is quite essential these days. If we talk about restaurants, they are the most crowded places in the city. The most important aspect is having properly designed seating arrangements as per distancing rules.
There is a chance that you have to cut down some seats, yet this step will add a benefit in addressing the safety of customers.
All these things will bring you to the limelight as customers always prefer a place that is hygienic, spacious, and safe to dine in. These days many restaurants are opting for an open kitchen format. An open kitchen allows the customers to have an insight into the kitchen while the food is being prepared. It increases the trust of the customers that the food is being prepared with proper hygiene and with full safety.
But some customers might not like the technique of how the food is being prepared, so you need to keep a check in the kitchen. One wrong step can lead to a major loss in the business.
Manage and take reviews
Reviews of your restaurant are very crucial. They are silent but salient players. Reviews are a decisive partner of your customers. Your reviews on various ordering platforms play a major role in bringing your business. Yet many restaurants fail to manage reviews and keep a follow-up with them.
In 2022, the question of how to grow my restaurant business is triggering in every restaurant owner’s mind. So try to reach out to your customers personally through e-mail, phone calls and also share the feedback, and then respond to all the reviews on a daily basis. This will make it look like you genuinely care for your customers and their concerns.
Take out time to respond to each of the reviews. You can even highlight a few on your website. This will show that each review matters a lot. By observing the reviews, your customers are more likely to choose the restaurant over others. You can also send them links to give an SMS, feedback message, or e-mail.
Moreover, by analyzing all the reviews, you can also search for what is appreciated by the customers and what you need to improve in your restaurant business. You can always work on your weak point to increase your business appropriately. In this way, reviews can easily help you in increasing the sales of your restaurant.
Get associated with local businesses
To increase restaurant sales, it is important to get in touch with the neighboring food community or other associations related to the government that can endorse your business. Partnerships can always help in growing the business by tapping other businesses and their customers.
You need to find out the customers who would prefer your food like kids, corporate people, and youngsters, and then target them through various platforms.
If you want to focus on people who are health conscious and gym freaks, then start with low-calorie food like smoothies, salad, and non-fried items. If your restaurant is located near corporate offices then reach out to corporate people. All these ideas help you to have a great deal and major profits.
Conclusion:
Now it’s time to practice and dig the gold out, find the most suitable way for your food and restaurant business. If you wish to increase restaurant sales, it will not be a piece of cake but it is not impossible. So be patient with the results, amongst all these strategies something will click for your restaurant business.
You will get all the answers to the question on how to grow a restaurant business once you will get hands-on every possible solution to be on the top rank amongst your competitors.
For further tips and technical assistance in growing your restaurant, reach out to App2food and get ready to give an energetic kick start to your food business.